The Dragon's Champion by Sam Ferguson, Bob Kehl Read Free Book Online Page B

would reach him in seven more paces,
placing the man’s left leg forward. Erik figured that these two facts, combined
with the large man’s momentum, probably meant that the first attack would be a
crude forward thrust. Erik knew what to do.
    Two seconds
later the man’s left foot stomped hard on the ground. Then the man lowered his
sword and thrust straight at Erik’s exposed chest. Erik pivoted on the ball of
his left foot to dodge the thrust. As he moved he simultaneously flipped his
sword into an upside-down grip and sliced through the man’s right armpit. The
man wailed in agony but still held his sword. Erik stepped behind the man and
drew a red line across the man’s back as he slid his blade across. Erik
gracefully spun; placing himself on the burly man’s left side, and ended the
fight by slapping the burly man’s hands with the flat of his blade. The man
dropped his sword and fell to his knees.
    “Yield,” Erik
demanded. The apprentice pointed the tip of his sword at the man’s neck. “Yield
and I will let you live.” Erik’s tone was confident and unafraid.
    “I yield,” the
man relented. He was holding his left hand to his right armpit and panting
heavily.
    “Baltezer, give
me the name before anyone else gets hurt,” Dimwater demanded after the duel was
over.
    “I will not,”
Baltezer roared. “Take your beloved tyrant’s law elsewhere. You aren’t wanted
here.” Others in the crowd reached for their swords and slowly started to close
in.
    Dimwater
narrowed her eyes. Erik was almost as scared of her in that moment as he had
been of the wolf guarding her study. After a few seconds Dimwater pulled a
parchment from her robes.
    “People of
Spiekery, you have been deceived. The man you know as Baltezer is a
Shadowfiend. Your tormentor and savior are one and the same.”
    The crowd
stopped advancing, but a wave of shouts protested Dimwater’s words. The
sorceress tapped the head of her staff on the ground, releasing a sound like a
great gong. The crowd covered their ears and shied away.
    “If you desire
proof, here it is.” Dimwater unfolded the parchment and looked at the contents
briefly. “One of your accusers gave us the demon’s name. Now I will reveal the
truth behind your fraud, Baltezer the Brown, or should I say Be’alt the Black?”
    The crowd
collectively gasped and started to scatter.
    Dimwater tapped
the ground again to get their attention. “Stand and look at your priest, for he
is the beast. He is the one who ravages your village, demanding sacrifices be
made.”
    “Curse you
woman,” Baltezer growled.
    Erik stepped
back as he watched the priest’s mouth and nose elongate into a hideous, fang
filled snout. His hair turned black and coarse. His ears became pointed.
Bulging muscles filled the robes to their limits before the clothing finally
burst and fell to the ground. The coarse, black hair covered his entire body
now.
    “The demon is
now revealed,” Dimwater announced.
    The crowd
shrieked and ran. Some men drew swords or knives, but most rushed their
families away to safety.
    “What do I do?”
Erik asked. His voice cracked and his hands shook, but he held his sword out,
trying to prepare for a fight.
    “Get yourself to
a safe place, young apprentice. I will deal with this myself.” Dimwater pushed
Erik away and then advanced toward the beast. Erik hid himself around the
corner of a stone cottage, but he peered around and watched Lady Dimwater
confront the beast.
    “Be’alt the
Black, today you die,” Dimwater shouted.
    The beast
snarled, revealing its teeth. Long, pointed talons grew from the tips of its
fingers, but Dimwater was unafraid. She leveled her staff at the beast and sent
a fireball at it. Be’alt waved his hand and the fireball turned to a puff of
smoke.
    “I have dealt
with meddling wizards before,” Be’alt growled. He lunged directly at Dimwater,
but was punched back through the air by a psionic blast.
    “And I have
dealt with more than a