“I guess I don’t really understand what you’re trying to tell me. Eos, the wolf goddess, told you to meet me at Leosor Hollows. So what?” He tried to soften his tone a little, but given Damos’s expression, he wasn’t sure it worked.
Damos huffed and then explained, “As I said, you don’t seem to care much about prophecies. I discovered after she appeared to me that there was indeed a prophecy that roughly says in your language, ‘When the wolf goddess appears, follow the directions explicitly, and the tools needed to defeat Mors will make themselves known.’”
Burchard shifted his weight back and forth between his feet. The cold was creeping up his toes due to his lack of movement, and he regretted not putting on heavier socks. “Does that mean I am your tool to defeat Mors?” Damos must have noticed Burchard’s discomfort because he was suddenly enveloped in warmth. He blushed and mumbled, “Thanks.”
Damos shrugged. “Yes, you, Ruschmann, and likely Fang, although she did not join you until your initial encounter with Ossa, are all the tools that Eos was referring to. As Jade had also mentioned, there is another prophecy about the man with the wolf companion. My clan believes it is all tied together. Regardless of the prophecy, several things were made clear on the battlefield. You have an unprecedented amount of skill for one so young, and you have come up against Ossa not once but three times and are still alive. Those things alone should be enough proof that you would be welcome to fight at my side. I am sure many of your friends within the castle would not hesitate to say the same thing. Especially the young Armand.”
Burchard was studying Damos’s face when he mentioned Armand, and then the centaur’s eyes turned completely white. Burchard gasped in shock.
The voice that came from Damos was deep and gravelly, as though the stones themselves were speaking. “The lýkos and flóga agóri are the key to the final battle with Mors. You must first recover Nefrítis.” The centaur’s eyes returned to their normal color and he stumbled backward a few steps.
“Are you OK?” asked Burchard, laying a hand on Damos’s arm.
Damos shook himself, setting the beads in his hair rattling and dislodging Burchard’s hand. “What did I say?”
Burchard gave him a curious look. “You don’t remember?”
Damos fingered his axe before replying. “No, but from your expression and actions, I can assume that my eyes changed color and I said something.”
“Has it happened before?” Burchard inquired.
Damos stomped his hoof. “Maybe…now if you would be so kind as to tell me what I said?”
Burchard muttered a few incoherent things under his breath before clearing his throat. “You said…the lýkos and flyga agari are the key to the final battle with Mors. You must first recover Nefrati.” He scratched his head. “Or that’s what it sounded like to me. Some of the words were in a different language.”
Damos gave him a slight smile. “Was it flóga agóri and Nefrítis?”
Burchard snapped his fingers. “Yes! Those were the words.”
Damos tapped his lips with his finger for a moment. “I believe what I said was…the wolf and flame boy are the key to the final battle with Mors. You must first recover Jade.”
“Who is the flame boy?” Burchard asked. He didn’t know of anyone who was called that or who even had the job of lighting the torches around the castle.
Damos shrugged. “I think that is for us to discover. However, now we know that Jade must be recovered before the final battle with Mors can happen. Or at least for us to have a shot at defeating Mors.”
Burchard peered around him. The sky was completely dark. There were torches at the top of the castle wall, but they only cast enough light to walk safely at the top of the wall. “It sounds like we must focus our efforts on rescuing Jade then. I do have one more question for you. How did you get the Etrians to help?”
Damos tapped his arm with his fingers. “I know Jade failed to pass on my information to you about the rebels not being at Dry Bridge. When I discovered that, I went searching for Sir Waldorf and Sir Emberwood. Eos had told me they would be open to aiding the centaurs if the circumstances were dire. Which, as you know, they did.”
Burchard felt his eyelids drooping and forced them open to look at Damos. “If you don’t mind…” he said, yawning, “I’d like to go to bed.”
Damos nodded. “Yes, I sometimes forget that humans have different sleep requirements. I apologize for keeping you from sleep. Let me walk you back to the barracks.”
Burchard nodded and turned, heading toward the gate. To his surprise and pleasure the bubble of warmth stayed around him, as did the light. When they reached the barracks, Burchard gave the centaur a slight bow before retiring inside.
The silver light of dawn, with small tendrils of pale pink, greeted Burchard and Ruschmann as they stepped out of the barracks. Their knight masters and Sir Foxbright had discussed this development for hours. The squires had gone to bed, wanting to get as much sleep as possible before facing whatever lay on their road to find Jade.
Burchard hefted his saddlebags over his shoulder, grunting with the weight. Their knight masters had insisted they pack what Burchard deemed too much gear. Damos was waiting by the gate with Armand Foxbright.
Captain Thomas emerged from the barn with Chip and Cricket. The two squires quickly tied their saddlebags to the saddles. Ruschmann mounted while Burchard walked over to Damos and Armand.
Locking gazes with Armand, Burchard spoke firmly. “You were not given permission to come with us.”
Armand sighed deeply. “I know. I just wanted to tell you before you leave that I believe in you, Lýkos. In you and Fang. We will see each other again.” A tear trickled down Armand’s face. Burchard wrapped the page in a hug.
“Yes, we will see each other again,” Burchard murmured. He glanced at Damos. “Are you ready?”
“Yes,” Damos said.
Burchard mounted Chip and they walked through the gate. When the two squires, centaur, and black wolf reached the other side of the bridge. Burchard had a tickling feeling on the back of his neck. Chip turned to face the castle of her own accord. To Burchard’s surprise, his father was up on the wall along with Sir Peter, Sir Daniel, Sir Foxbright, and most of the pages.
There on the bridge, he presumed visible to all based on the gasps and shrieks coming from within the castle and wall, was a huge white wolf. Larger than a horse.
“Safe travels, Lýkos,” came the musical voice of Eos.
THE END
Acknowledgements
Thank you so much to everyone who has contributed to the creation of this book. It would not have turned out this well without you. Thank you to my readers whose continued support encourages me to keep writing the stories that are in my head.
About the Author
Elizabeth R. Jensen is an award-winning author and Arabian horse and German Riding pony breeder in Atlanta, GA. This is her fifth book. All four of her previous books have won awards in numerous categories including Best Series, Cover Illustration, and Audiobook Production.
Elizabeth has a bachelor’s degree in animal science, a master’s of business administration and a master’s of organizational leadership. In elementary school, Elizabeth was introduced to creative writing in an after-school poetry class for gifted students. Since then, she has continued to write poetry.
