Chapter 65
Chapter
Sixty-Five
Konrad watched in horror as the warrior monks approached Wraith, weapons at the ready. Konrad shouted and thrashed against the stone altar and the hands holding him down.
Then Gerard stomped forward. His head darted, and he bit one of the warrior doves holding Konrad. He swung his head and threw the monk. Konrad shoved the other off him.
But he didn’t bother finishing him off. He just grabbed a discarded sword from the ground and ran to Wraith’s aid. He jumped in front of Wraith, holding up the sword.
Umbra ran to Wraith’s side. But they were still so outnumbered.
But then Gerard, Luther, and Barrett were on the monks, snapping and tearing at them. They scattered and screamed as bone crunched and blood burst. Luther swung his tail and knocked two monks out the window. One of them was Clara.
The rest of the monks scattered.
“Stay and fight!” the grand shield shouted as she brandished her sword.
With a cry, Konrad ran straight at her. He lifted his sword. She turned towards him and raised hers to block. But she was too late. He swung and cut straight through her neck. Her head rolled on the floor.
Konrad didn’t pause. He returned to Wraith’s side to fight more monks and undead. Meanwhile, Umbra barked and attacked, defending Wraith with everything she had.
The undead army now also fought the monks, the necromancers having realised that they, too, were no longer bound to not harming them. Yells and shouts filled the air. The scent of blood, rot, and smoke hung thick. All around was a blur of activity and noise.
Elias stood in the middle of a group of the reanimated.
Lightning flashed as he zapped the skeletons and corpses.
But his lightning didn’t seem to have much effect on the skeletons.
And although it seemed to incapacitate the corpses, it only did so temporarily.
Elias stepped backwards as the reanimated pressed closer.
Gerard barrelled forward. With a roar, he cleared the skeletons and corpses from around his husband.
Then King Alaric returned, flying in through the window. His fiery eyes fixed on the grand monk’s corpse. He tromped forward and lowered his head. He sniffed. Then he opened his mouth and chomped. In three bites, he ate the grand monk.
Or … kind of ate him. The dismembered parts of the grand monk fell into the dragon’s stomach. Or what would have been his stomach, if his father wasn’t just bone, shadow, and fire. The grand monk’s dismembered body fell through his skeleton, landing on the floor beneath. His robes caught fire.
Because the ceiling angled downwards towards the back of the crypt, the dragons could only stay at the front.
The dread knights, the necromancers, and the remaining monks seemed to have realised this and had retreated to the back.
And the dragons could not shoot dragonfire towards them, since a lot of their own forces were back there too.
The shadow queen stood in a back corner of the crypt. She lifted her hands. “Rise and fight!” she screamed.
The tombs rattled. The dread knights grabbed the stone slabs on top of the tombs and shoved them to the side. Skeletons and rotting corpses of dead monks crawled out from their tombs.
They immediately fell on the living monks. Screams of horror bounced off the walls. The monks’ numbers had already dwindled greatly. The last of them were killed, torn apart by their undead brethren.
“To the front. Come towards us!” Konrad shouted.
But the dread knights, about forty still remaining, were blocking their own forces from reaching Konrad and the other dragons.
A Draconian guard shoved their blade straight through a dread knight. But the dread knight just stabbed her in the throat.
“How can we defeat them?” Konrad asked. “If we could kill the necromancers, that would take out all the reanimated. But we can’t reach them.
They have the undead surrounding and protecting them.
And even if we managed to kill the necromancers, it would still leave the dread knights.
” And Konrad knew from experience how hard they were to destroy.
“I … I think I can take care of the dread knights,” Wraith said.
“Can you?”
Wraith swayed on his feet. Freeing Konrad’s father from the grand monk’s control must have taken a lot of his energy.
“Are you okay?” Konrad asked.
Wraith nodded. “I think I can get rid of all the dread knights.” He closed his eyes. “Open the Bone Door,” he whispered.
Konrad could see no Bone Door, but that didn’t mean anything. He could never see it. An icy wind blew. Konrad shivered.
Suddenly, a dread knight carrying a battle-axe ran towards them. Konrad dashed forward to meet him, lifting his sword. The dread knight hefted his axe. Konrad blocked the blow.
Then Wraith shouted, “I break your bonds. I command you to go forth, dread knights. You do not belong here! Go! Go through the Bone Door! I command you to leave this world.”
Suddenly the dread knight lowered his axe. He stared at Wraith, ignoring Konrad completely.
Konrad, not missing the opportunity, swung. The sword sliced across the front of the dread knight’s chest, opening clothing and skin. But the dread knight didn’t so much as flinch.
Then all the other dread knights turned and faced Wraith. Slowly, they walked towards him. The one Konrad had been fighting did the same.
Konrad stepped backwards. He swung once more. But the blade passed straight through the dread knight.
What the fuck?
The dread knight turned completely translucent. All of them did. And every single one walked straight towards Wraith.
Konrad ran and stood in front of his husband. He held up his sword, even whilst knowing he would be unable to defend Wraith against these ghoulish, untouchable opponents.
“Go! I banish you from the world of the living!” Wraith shouted. “Go into the beyond!”
The dread knights broke into a run. Konrad swung his blade. But it connected with nothing. The dread knights ran straight through Konrad and Wraith. A chill passed over Konrad. He gasped, and his lungs clenched.
Konrad turned just in time to see the dread knights disappear at a single point behind Wraith.
Wraith screamed, hair whipping around him. His face scrunched. Konrad dropped his sword and wrapped his arm around Wraith, holding him tight.
Suddenly the cold wind died away. Wraith stopped screaming and sagged in his arms. He breathed heavily.
“Did it work?” Wraith asked, eyes unfocused.
“Yes. It worked. All the dread knights are gone. You did it!” Konrad cupped his cheek. Then he looked around as he held Wraith tight.
The Draconian forces ran towards the undead army and the remaining necromancers.
The wind sorcerers cast a gust of wind, causing several necromancers to stumble or smash into the wall behind them.
Elias flung lightning that hit the shadow queen.
She jolted and flailed. Onyx threw a stone lid from a tomb, and it crushed another necromancer.
Juniper’s vines shot out, entangling two of them.
The reanimated all collapsed.
Konrad scanned the crypt. He let out a laugh. “We did it. There is no one left! We won! I can’t believe we fucking won!”
Ragged cheers broke out. Dragons roared. Konrad turned to Wraith. The smile died on his lips. Wraith’s eyes were half closed.
Umbra barked as she circled the two of them.
“Wraith? What’s wrong?” Konrad asked.
Wraith’s eyes rolled into the back of his head. He slumped.
“Wraith! Wraith!” Konrad shouted.
Umbra’s barking intensified.
“Wraith! Wraith!” Konrad lowered him gently to the ground. He touched his pale cheek. It felt far too cold. “Wraith! Please wake up.” But Wraith did not stir.