Last Knight (The Champion Chronicles Book 2) Read Free Page A

Then he heard some shouting, but he could not understand what was being said.
    He paused just as he crested the hill.  A group of four riders, armed with swords, were circling around a man and a woman.  The four riders were laughing, the man and woman were clearly not.
    Without thinking, he mounted Lilly and kicked her hard to run down the hill right at the riders.
    “Hey!” Conner shouted as he approached.  They all turned to look at him.  With a grace that even surprised himself, Conner slid off his horse and strode confidently towards the couple.
    “Are you okay?” Conner asked the man.  He was maybe a little older than himself.  There was some semblance of a beard on the man’s face, but it was patchy and scraggly. The woman he protected was dressed in long flowing robes that covered all of her body except her face.  Both the man and woman looked back at him without replying.
    One of the riders let out a hearty laugh.  “Karmon!” the man said.  “They do not understand you!  They are simple Taran villagers.  They only know their own language.”
    Conner’s right hand fell to the hilt of his long dagger.  He knew it was not adequate.  He wished he had his swords back as his eyes fell to the longswords sheathed at the side of each of the riders.  One of those would do, he thought to himself.
    “Who are you?” Conner asked sharply and with as much bravado as he could muster.  “What are you doing?”
    The man who had spoken said something to his men, but not in the same language that Conner spoke.  Once the man stopped talking, the other three riders starting laughing.
    “You hold a toothpick in your hand, and you demand of us who we are?” the man asked.
    Conner replied as firmly as he could, “Yes.”
    “Well then,” the man said with a grin.  “My name is Harmack.  These are Trevor, Nilan, and Tom.  And who might you be?”
    Without thinking, Conner replied.  “Conner.  Sir Conner.  I am a knight of Karmon.”
    “Oh?” the man said with a raised eyebrow.  “You are, you say?”
    “Yes!”
    “You do look like a knight.  Where is your armor?  And your sword?  Your horse is tired and thirsty.  Do knights treat all their horses this harshly?”
    Conner felt a rush of adrenalin and let his mouth think for him.  He said quickly, “Step down and I’ll show you that I am a knight!”
    Harmack slid from his horse and drew his sword.
    Conner left his dagger sheathed and said, “You would face me with a sword, when I have none?”
    Harmack let out another burst of laughter.  “Of course!  We are not knights.  We are simple folk of the forest.  Some would even call us outlaws.  But regardless, we have no honor like your knights.  We feast on the misfortune of others.  Like these poor souls…”   He turned to wave his sword at the young couple.  “They were unfortunate enough to come across our path.  And that will be their demise.  They have little to give us, but we will take what they have.  And we will take what you have.  Your horse, though tired and thirsty, looks strong enough.  That dagger of yours could be worth something.  Any coins in those bags of yours?”
    Conner drew the dagger.  “I have nothing you want.  But I will give you the one thing I can.”  He waved the dagger at Harmack.
    Harmack took a step forward and the other three bandits dismounted and drew their swords.  One of the three said something in Taran.  Harmack answered so that Conner could understand, “Yes, Trevor, we will not kill him quickly.  He will suffer and die slowly.”
    Conner moved backwards, making sure that he was not outflanked.  He knew that four against one was going to be tough, but Master Goshin had taught him many tricks.  The first of which was to engage quickly and reduce their numbers.  Harmack moved forward, his sword up in a relaxed position.  The other three hung back a few steps behind their leader.
    An instant before he moved, Conner played out