Treffen, Emerald, and Gawain were hauled to their feet. A chimera on each side held their arms, and the ones holding Gawain were almost carrying him.
They followed the king down one of the dark points of the star. At the corner where the hallway tapered, the smooth stone was broken by a thick curl of tree root that poked through the wall and out the floor. Even in this horrid place, the Deeproot Tree’s tendrils could not be walled out. The king brushed past the root on his way down the narrowing hallway.
“The House of Falcon, first to return.”
At the end of the chamber where it closed to a point, a waist-high stone pedestal sat. In front of it on the ground was piled a rusty suit of armor. Treffen squinted in the dim light and saw the breastplate and gauntlets were adorned with the head of a bird of prey. A tarnished sword lay across the armor. On top of the pedestal was an unrecognizable, cracked chunk of dark crystal.
“The Falcon was first to learn how magnanimous a lord he served. Sadly, that brave Knight was lost many years ago in the battle that brought me the Boar.”
A snuffling grunt came from the pig-faced creature that held Emerald’s arm.
The king turned away from the pedestal. Captives and chimeras blocked his way out of the narrow hallway, and he frowned. There was a moment’s frantic shifting, chimeras dragging Gawain and Treffen out of the way so the king could proceed back into the central chamber. He sailed past them like a ship coming into harbor.
“Next and much later came the Ram, and since then my heart has pined for my one remaining lost son.” Gawain twitched at the word. “For you are all my children, aren’t you?” Hoots and quacks of assent.
They paraded into another of the points. This was one of the two that were lit by an ethereal blue glow. When they stopped near the point, the king stood aside so the captives could see the pedestal at the end.
There was no armor in front of it, and on top sat a shining crystal the size of a man’s head, carved into the shape of a running bear. The blue glow flickered like a flame from within the crystal sculpture.
“It’s ironic, is it not?” the king said. “These are the nodes of my prison. The usurper on my throne used the houses of my wayward Knights to bind me here in the filthy darkness. He thought my sentence would last forever.”
Emerald smirked. “Some of your sentences certainly do last forever.”
“Silence!”
Oh, that’s a good King Voice. Treffen was impressed in spite of himself.
The king focused on Emerald. “You are an impertinent child. It does not trouble me in the slightest that your blood will release the final seal.”
“Look, Mr. Goat,” Emerald said. “This is all really super interesting. But we’re here to rescue my sister. So how about you just hand her over and we get on our way? It’s going to take me a month to get the wet dog smell out of this coat, and I’d like to get started.”
“Your sister?” The king looked honestly puzzled. “Why would you think I harbor your sister?”
“Because Saros’s machine just spun in a circle when I fed it her hair. It’s because she’s here behind this magic shield. So hand her over, and I’ll let you live to bore your dumb animals to death for another thousand years down here.”
Treffen’s lips twitched as he tried not to smile. That’s my almost-sister.
“I regret to inform you that I have no sister of yours. But do take comfort in knowing that, whenever I meet her, I’ll be certain to inform her that your final wish was to find her.”
Well that doesn’t sound good at all.
“And now, for the Bear.” The king’s eyes flickered from Gawain’s sweaty, writhing form back to Emerald’s angry gaze. “The irony is not lost on me, young lady. You shot my second-in-command, Boris. You robbed me of one Bear, but you’ve brought me a fine replacement.”
Trent’s voice rumbled quietly behind Treffen. “And if I die, you just get a new tree?”
The king didn’t hear, or at least, didn’t respond. He frowned at the group that was once again blocking his way out of the tight passage, and the chimeras dragged their captives in the shuffle to make room. Everyone followed the king back into the middle of the chamber.
Gawain was pulled forward, and all three were shoved back to their knees.
“Now, the Bear,” the Betrayer repeated. He pulled a knife from the folds of his robe. Its blade glinted in the flickering torchlight. The two chimeras holding Gawain ripped off the ropes that bound his hands. Each one held an arm, but the Knight had no fight in him. The curse had robbed him of his strength and will.
Treffen struggled against his captors, but they just dug their claws deeper into his arms.
The king pulled off one of Gawain’s gauntlets and held it up to the light, tracing the raised bear shape with a thick, black fingernail. “The final Knight.” His eyes flicked to Emerald. “Followed by the Crown. At long last, the chains will be broken.”
He smiled at Gawain. “Be of good cheer, Bear. The long years of resistance are over.” He slashed the knife down on Gawain’s wrist and held the gauntlet under the drips of blood. It hissed like grease on a hot pan where the blood hit the bear emblem.
Emerald screamed. Gawain made no sound.
A deep rumbling hum filled the room, growing in intensity until Treffen thought his ears would implode. He fought to keep his eyes open as Gawain thrashed on the smooth floor. No, no, no, Gawain, be strong.
The king stepped back and held the bloodied gauntlet aloft. “Welcome, Bear!”
Gawain writhed on the floor. The chimeras that had held him jumped back and scurried behind the king. Gawain’s body twitched, and his mouth foamed, eyes staring wide as a deep groan bubbled out of his throat.
Treffen’s voice joined the scream, but he couldn’t hear it, nor Emerald’s next to him. The magical hum drowned it all out, thrumming in his ears.
The chimeras that held his arms dragged him back away from the writhing Knight on the floor.
Treffen watched in horror as Gawain ripped off his armor piece by piece, throwing each part to the floor with a clatter that Treffen could feel but not hear. Gawain stretched and grew, thick brown hair sprouting all over his body. His nose lengthened, and his teeth erupted into long yellow fangs.
With a roar that Treffen could hear over the awful hum, the monster that had been Gawain leapt to his feet and snarled. He was lighter of fur than Boris had been. Gawain the Bearstruck Berserker raised his head and roared his rage.
And behind him in the corner of the room, the light in the crystal bear statue shattered into darkness.