The Rogue Knight

  “An astute question,” Callista said. “As with the Rogue Knight and Minimus, the armor is connected to her new identity. In her changed state, without removing the mask, Honor could no sooner take off her armor than she could take off her skin. It is part of her.”

  “What about our clothes?” Cole asked. “You know, when we turn into animals.”

  “I’ve designed the masks to incorporate your clothing into your altered forms,” Callista said. “Your gear too. Hiding your possessions in your new anatomy makes the changing more complicated, but it’s useful to change back dressed and equipped.”

  “You have my thanks,” Mira said earnestly.

  “Are we ready?” Honor asked.

  Everyone responded with nods and shrugs.

  “This way,” Minimus said, nudging his powerful horse forward. While Minimus and Honor took the lead on horseback, the rest of them fell into step behind them on foot. The two armored knights held their horses to a slow pace, but Cole still had to step quickly to keep up.

  Cole ended up walking beside Dalton. “What did you think?” Cole asked.

  “Awesome,” Dalton said. “Almost too awesome.”

  “You wanted to leave the mask on too?”

  “I was so strong,” Dalton said. “It was intense.”

  “The running was great,” Cole said. “I felt so . . . alive. And alert. I wanted to hunt something.” He didn’t mention what prey had caught his eye toward the end.

  “I wanted to fight,” Dalton said. “I wanted something to get in my way so I could ram it. Funny. I remember how I felt, but it’s kind of blurry now.”

  “We get to do it again,” Cole said. “I think you’ll get that fight you wanted.”

  After traveling a couple of hundred yards through a grove of trees, they reached a clearing with three large tents and several small ones. The fully armored knights moving around the camp paused to regard the newcomers.

  The Rogue Knight emerged from his sizable tent. The last time Cole had seen him, his armor had been scored and dented, but now it was polished and flawless, with both antlers intact on the helm.

  “Minimus,” the Rogue Knight greeted in his booming voice. “You brought Miracle back to me. Well done. I did not sense your approach.”

  “The Grand Shaper has divided me from your power,” Minimus said. “But I remain your loyal servant.”

  “I see,” the Rogue Knight said, clearly displeased. “Who are your new companions?”

  “Allow me to introduce Honor Pemberton,” Minimus said, his little voice especially tinny by comparison. “She is under the influence of a changing.”

  “So I see,” the Rogue Knight said. He inclined his head, antlers dipping toward her. “Honor, I am pleased to find you well.”

  “I understand we have much in common,” Honor said.

  “What has Minimus told you?” the Rogue Knight asked.

  “He revealed nothing,” Callista clarified. “I am Callista, Grand Shaper of Elloweer, and your relationship to Honor was plain to me, as are the altered states of your knights.”

  “Then you possess keen awareness,” the Rogue Knight said. “No others have made these observations. You place me in an awkward position, madam. My secrets must be kept.”

  “Make no threats, sir knight,” Honor said. “Before we snap at each other, we have a common foe to fight.”

  “Morgassa came into being much as you did,” Callista said. “But her energy derived from a shaper of even greater power. Only those gathered here have a chance to topple her. Any ordinary mortal who dares approach her will be assimilated into her horde. Your changings will protect you and your knights, as will the changings I have provided for this band of heroes.”

  “I see mostly children among you,” the Rogue Knight said.

  Cole fingered his cougar mask. It wouldn’t take much for him to appear a lot more intimidating.

  “Do not underestimate the young,” Callista said gravely. “The power behind you and your knights was stolen from a child, as was the power behind Morgassa.”

  “I cannot refute that,” the Rogue Knight said, hand on Verity’s hilt. “I received Honor’s power, though I had no part in stealing it. The power that once belonged to her is not only mine to wield—it has become who I am.”

  “That power still belongs to her,” Callista said. “It wants to return. Should Honor perish, you’ll be as naked of power as you were before the thievery.”

  “I’d be powerless if I survived the trauma,” the Rogue Knight clarified. “I’d more likely be torn asunder.”

  “I’m not here to claim my power,” Honor said. “That day may come, but not yet. For the sake of Elloweer, we must stop Morgassa.”

  “Why not leave the task to those who created her?” the Rogue Knight proposed.

  “If they alone would pay the price for their folly, I would happily agree,” Honor said. “Sadly, those who made her lack the ability to stop her, and they are not the only ones who will suffer. Before long, all of Elloweer will fall under Morgassa’s control. She must be stopped. We’ll have a better chance if we work together.”

  The Rogue Knight turned to his men. “I knew a day of reckoning might come for my borrowed powers. I expect that if we stop Morgassa, that reckoning will follow.”

  “We will heed your orders, as ever, regardless of the consequences,” Phillip said, his battle-ax on his shoulder. “Lead on.”

  “You have more knights,” Minimus observed.

  “Three more,” the Rogue Knight said. “The knights Desmond, Oster, and Raul escaped Edgemont with us and have permanently joined my company. Now that you have returned, Minimus, my knights number eleven and a half.”

  When the Rogue Knight named Desmond, Oster, and Raul, he gestured at them. Cole noticed they all now wore full suits of armor like his other knights. They also looked larger.

  “What about Joe, Brady, and Sultan?” Mira asked. “They couldn’t come with us. Do you know what became of them?”

  “Brady and I are here,” Joe said, emerging from a tent, arm in a sling. Brady followed him. Cole felt immense relief at the sight of them. It was great to know that Joe and the little guy were okay.

  “What about Sultan?” Skye asked.

  Joe frowned. “Sultan succumbed to his injuries a few hours after you left us.”

  “He’s gone?” Skye asked, anguish in her voice.

  Cole’s relief turned sour. There had been a lot of blood from the wound to Sultan’s shoulder, but the quarrel hadn’t been in the heart or anything. Cole had expected the sturdy illusionist to recover.

  “I did all I could,” Joe apologized. “Not long after he passed away, Brady and I would have fallen into enemy hands if not for the Rogue Knight. Enforcers ambushed us, but the Rogue Knight and his men arrived and destroyed them.”

  “May I see the boy?” Callista asked.

  Joe turned to Brady. “Do you want to go to her?”

  Brady squinted up at him. “Is she nice?”

  “I’m a friend, Brady,” Callista said. “I’m here to help.”

  “She’s pretty nice,” Cole offered.

  Brady crossed to Callista as everyone watched. She placed her hands on his shoulders and looked down at him. He looked small and very young.

  “You’re far from home,” she said.

  “I want to go back,” Brady said. “Can you help me?”

  “Not right now,” Callista said. “I would if I could. Do you know how you came here?”

  “I was dreaming,” Brady said. “I got stuck. I couldn’t wake up. I couldn’t leave.”

  “I see,” Callista said. “You brought yourself here while dreaming. You opened a way. Then you couldn’t get out.”

  “Not until the guys came and got me,” Brady said. “But they didn’t take me home.”

 
“You had enormous power,” Callista told him.

  “I imagined things, and they happened,” Brady replied. “Just like a dream, except it felt really real. I tried to make up happy things. But I couldn’t stop thinking of scary stuff, too. The guys who took me made it go away.”

  “You gave them your power, and they channeled it to somebody else,” Callista said.

  “They gave it to some lady,” Brady said. “I let them. They promised the dreams would stop. The lady changed.”

  “How did she change?” Callista asked.

  He paused, looking at the ground. “She became like Mrs. Morgan,” he said softly. “Except worse.”

  “Who is Mrs. Morgan?” Callista asked.

  Brady studied his feet. “She was my teacher. My first-grade teacher. She was so mean. She hated me.”

  “Morgassa,” Cole murmured.

  “Yeah,” Brady said, looking over at Cole. “The lady called herself that after she changed. She got taller. She was so angry. She said I was a bad boy. She said she would make me pay. The guys took me away. They took her away too. The guys told me I was safe. They were liars.”

  Mira approached Brady. “We’re going to stop her,” she said. “We’re going to stop Morgassa.”

  Brady looked worried. “Don’t try. She’ll get you.”

  “We have to try,” Honor said.

  “Is there anything you know about her that could help us?” Callista asked.

  “That lady was different from Mrs. Morgan,” Brady said. “Angrier. Stronger. Kind of like when my monsters came to Dreamland. They were always worse than I imagined.”

  “Did Mrs. Morgan have any weaknesses?” Mira asked.

  Brady looked stumped.

  “Did anything ever scare Mrs. Morgan?” Cole followed up. “Did anything bother her?”

  Brady paused to think. “She hated when we wouldn’t pay attention,” he said. “She wanted us to listen. She wanted us to obey. And she hated messes. She always made me clean my desk. It was never good enough.”

  Callista approached Joe. “Watch over Brady.”

  “I’m coming with you,” Joe protested.

  Callista shook her head. “We’re all protected by changings. Someone needs to watch over the boy. He trusts you. We’ll return to you after we deal with Morgassa. How is your arm?”

  Joe rubbed it. “Could be worse.”

  Callista rested a hand on his shoulder. “You don’t need the sling anymore.”

  Rotating his shoulder, Joe rubbed his upper arm and flexed it. “Amazing.”

  “A minor changing,” Callista said. “It isn’t truly healed yet. But the changing will leave it fully functional until the healing occurs. Take the boy to the farthest tent. We have matters to discuss.”

  “I want to stay,” Brady complained. “I’m not a baby.”

  “Come on, Brady,” Joe said. “I know a game.”

  “What kind of game?”

  “It’s a secret,” Joe said. “You’ll see.”

  Joe started walking, and Brady hurried to catch up, taking his hand. They strode away together.

  “Morgassa came from the lad?” the Rogue Knight asked, his voice quiet for a change.

  “Much like how your power came from Honor,” Callista confirmed. “The chief difference is that the boy gave up all claim to his power. It now exists separate from him.”

  The Rogue Knight turned to Honor. “If you surrender your claim to your power, my sword and my knights are yours.”

  “I will not,” Honor said. “Your power might feel like part of you, but it came from me. My father and those who aided him took it by force. But I will lay aside my claim for now if you will help us.”

  The Rogue Knight drew Verity. “I could slay your companions and take you prisoner.”

  “You could try,” Jace said, putting on his mask and transforming into a mighty wolf.

  Cole put on his mask as well. Changing into a mountain lion felt so empowering that he let out a yowling roar. This was more like it! The Rogue Knight and his men no longer looked quite so intimidating. Cole almost wanted them to attack. The armor might be problematic, but he felt confident that his claws and jaws were equal to the challenge. As he noticed a bear on one side and a ram on the other, Cole realized that the others had also used their masks.

  “I fear neither man nor beast,” the Rogue Knight bellowed. “I had my reservations about attacking children. My men and I would welcome a fairer fight.”

  Cole crouched, ready to pounce. The Rogue Knight’s horse looked delicious. If Cole stayed low, he suspected he could bring it down without the Rogue Knight touching him.

  “If you want a fair fight,” Honor offered, “leave the others out of it. Duel with me.”

  Only Callista remained in her true form. She held up her hands. “Cease this foolishness!” she demanded. “Rogue Knight, I doubt you wish to test yourself in combat against a virtuous young lady. She has not wronged you in any way. You have wronged her. If you cause any harm to Princess Honor, your honor would be the price. You did not personally steal her power. Do not make yourself an accomplice after the fact! Your alternative to helping us would be to live out your days on the run, either evading Morgassa or else falling prey to her. You physically cannot leave Elloweer. Side with us against this menace and give Elloweer a chance.”

  “You ask too much,” the Rogue Knight growled, as if the words had been torn from him. He pointed Verity at Honor. “I am her power more than I am anything else, as are my knights. You ask me to give up my identity. Our identities.”

  Minimus dismounted and walked to the Rogue Knight. “Sigmund, the identity you wish to protect is not yours. It’s hers. Yes, it changed you, but you remain beneath it. Keeping her power goes against all you now stand for and all you taught us.”

  Silence reigned in the camp. Eleven and a half knights watched their leader in stoic, faceless silence.

  “Let’s see how the battle goes,” Honor suggested. “You have done much good with my power. Perhaps there is more you could accomplish before I ask for it back.”

  “After this battle,” the Rogue Knight said, “you might ask, and I might refuse.”

  “I’m willing to take that chance,” Honor said.

  “Our best hope against Morgassa is to unite our efforts,” Callista said. “I will stand with you, as will Honor, her sister, and their companions. It’s perhaps our only chance to end this menace.”

  “Very well,” the Rogue Knight said, a hint of defeat in his voice. “I have watched Morgassa. She is indeed a catastrophe of the magnitude you describe. We will join the hunt, but I make no promise about afterward.”

  “That problem may resolve itself,” Callista said brightly. “There is a high probability that none of us will survive.”

  CHAPTER

  37

  SHOWDOWN

  Fluid strides propelled Cole forward at a thrilling speed. The physical rapture of running as a cougar helped him suppress his fears about the upcoming battle. Though worries tickled the back of his mind, they failed to rival the exhilaration of sprinting with this pack of knights and animals.

  The knights’ mounts must have been changed as much as their masters, because despite the hundreds of pounds on their backs, they had no trouble keeping pace with the other tireless beasts. Hooves thundering around him, a bear charging on one side, a bull on the other, Cole felt close to invincible. What could possibly stand against them?

  Cole smelled the horde before he saw them. Something about the scent was . . . unnatural. His instincts recoiled. The horde smelled . . . What? Infected? Rancid? Those words came close. They smelled like nothing he wanted to touch or bite. They smelled like something a healthy animal should avoid.

  A little village came into view at the base of a hill. People fled small buildings with stone walls and thatched ro
ofs as the vanguard of the horde fell upon them, hurling frightened villagers to the ground and holding them down as figments claimed them.

  “Morgassa is beyond the hill,” Callista called. “Her horde has spread out to swarm several hamlets at once. This will be as good a chance as any to strike.”

  “Onward,” the Rogue Knight urged, drawing Verity. “Don’t slow to fight. Success depends on keeping our speed.”

  Cole ran harder than ever, paws pulling at the ground, muscles bunching and releasing to heave him forward. No people ran from the village anymore. They had all been overtaken.

  Cole braced himself as the first members of the horde drew closer. He compared the revulsion to how he might feel if forced to plunge through deep sewage. But this was worse. At least sewage was natural. His senses warned that this horde was a crime against nature.

  The Rogue Knight took the lead. His knights fanned out diagonally behind him, forming an arrowhead that protected Honor and the animals.

  Figments glided their way to intercept them, their languid movements deceptively speedy. Human in form, the figments lacked detail. Their faces were blank, and each of their average-size bodies could have been male or female.

  Ahead of the figments charged dozens of changed people, their clothes soiled and tattered. Old and young, tall and short, fat and thin, they scrambled forward with deranged intensity, blundering into one another, gibbering and growling with mindless fervor. They moved quickly but gracelessly, as if driven by panic.

  The knights did not slow as they reached the horde. Their horses trampled the changed individuals coming their way. Some of the most nimble changelings jumped at the knights, as if hoping to tackle them from their saddles, but the knights beat them back with shields and weapons.

  As figments closed in, the Rogue Knight swung Verity in broad sweeps. In whatever direction he waved his sword, the figments disintegrated.

  Cole found himself running over fallen changelings. He tried not to harm them. They might be foul and deranged, but they were also innocent people under Morgassa’s control. The knights were of a similar mind, focusing on knocking people aside instead of inflicting fatal wounds. Cole noticed them using the flat sides of their swords and axes to bash rather than slash.