I’m writing one new short story every weekday until December 31st 2016. This is the 73nd one, I hope you enjoy.



“Would you like me to slow down Prince?”



“Not on your life Issak.”



“It’s not my life I’m worried about. By the way, you should probably duck.”



A branch about the width of my wrist cuts through the air a hand’s breadth above my head. It’s not much, easy to miss in the blur of green and brown, but at the speed we’re going, it would be plenty enough to snap my neck, and deliver my corpse straight into the Indriel’s golden bosom.



What’s worse is that the only part of the ordeal that would bother my mount is losing the extra set of eyes. That’s the thing about flying birds – you can train them to do just about anything, except care.



I guess that’s why Issak is here, well, one of the reasons.



“So this is how I earn my father’s crown then? Flying his favorite bird through the Winding Woods? It doesn’t seem like much of a Trial to me.”



“That’s because we haven’t arrived at the Trial Prince, and we never will, if you don’t manage to keep your head on your shoulders!”



“It’s not my fault I wasn’t born on a bird like you, Last Knight.”



“But it is your fault that you’ve spent the previous fifteen years ignoring every flying lesson I’ve ever tried to jam into that brain of yours. Now, take her higher!”



I check the straps that bind my wrists to the giant bird’s mane, running through the checklist that Issak taught me. No point in getting myself killed just before taking the throne. When I’m sure that I’m secure, I whistle high and sharp, a sound mid-way between a scream and a cough. The bird responds, wings powerful enough to shatter bones lifting us into the sky until the trees are an endless, undifferentiated carpet of vermilion.



When the bird finally levels off, the Last Knight is nowhere to be seen.



“Issak, where did you run off to now? As much as I love freezing my bullocks off out here, I’m sure we have places to be.”



I imagine it’s hard to hide a woman in flying leathers riding a giant, black bird, but somehow Issak has managed to do just that.



Which would normally be fine, the bird can get me back home on its own. Unfortunately, father made sure that the Last Knight was the only one who knew anything about the Trial, including where it is.



And without the Trial, there is no going home.



“We’ve had our fun Issak, now lets get on our…”



A sound like an explosion, followed by the beating of black wings. It’s Issak and her bird, but they’re not alone.



“Not quite yet Prince. First, it’s time to see whether or not you remember your lessons.”



At her tail are three very hungry looking Griffins, one of which makes my bird look like a sparrow.



“What do you think you’re? You’re going to get us killed!”



“Not if you run!”



Issak is off like a bolt, her mount cutting a dark streak through the blue sky, outpacing the two Griffins that follow her with ease. Which leaves only the third, the largest, for me. I give three sharp whistles, as if the bird needs to hear them to know the danger, and we’re diving back into the forest.







2.

3.

4.

5.

The trees save me. While the bird is trained to dance between the trunks, the beast is not. It takes only two good whacks across the flank by errant branches to get him to disengage. There are easier meals to be had.In the distance, I can hear a low, gurgling sound. I whistle at the bird to follow, and a few hundred wing flaps later, we find ourselves in a clearing. Thousand year old trees, some gnarled by lightning, others bent by age, all looking like they’ve had better centuries – surround what I can only describe as a tomb out of a ghost story.It’s the kind of place that even the dead would avoid.Issak and her bird stand by the entrance looking bored. The two Griffins look quite dead, that must have been the gurgling. How she managed to fight off both, in the time it took me to run away from one, is probably why my father made her Last Knight.“I’m glad you’re alive Prince.”“Are you? It looked like you were doing everything you could to get me killed.”“If I wanted you dead, you would be dead.”“I have no doubt. That still doesn’t explain why you did it, was this part of the Trial?”“No. I was just having a little fun.”“Fun? I didn’t even know you knew the meaning of the word.”“What can I say? This must be a special day for both of us.”“It must be. So, is this the place where I become King?”I don’t think I’ve ever seen Issak stand still. For most of my life, she had either been teaching me to fly or to fight. My earliest memories of her involve wooden swords pressed against my throat, and the rich musk of riding leathers and bird feathers.Even when she took meals with my family, she spent most of the night playing with my brothers and sister, or showing me how to cheat my Guardsmen at cards.Issak moved as most people breathed, but not now. Now, she stands stock still, as still as the half-dead trees that surrounded us.“Do you know what it means to be King?”Her voice is like her bird’s, dark and knife-edged. Whatever is to happen today, it’s starting now.“To be a King, is to be a caretaker.”Her grey-green eyes betray nothing.“And what does that mean?”“It means that I will look after my subjects as I would my own family. In war and in peace, I will protect them, as you have protected me, Last Knight.”“If that’s all that’s needed, then perhaps I should be King?”“You would look dashing in the robes, I’m sure, but I think you would miss the leathers.”Whatever spell had been cast over this place shatters as she flashes her predator’s smile, motioning me towards the entrance of the tomb.“You’re hopeless Prince…”“And that’s why I have you.”The inside of the crypt is somehow worse than the outside.Even the air is oppressive, the smell of rot seeps from the walls, and the floors are covered in something uncomfortably slippery.Fortunately, there is no light in here, so even if Issak has me slogging through the entrails of a thousand corpses – at least I’m blissfully unaware of the fact.“Is all this really necessary?”“Do you think I’d be down here if it wasn’t?”“I don’t know, hang a few oil lamps, paint the walls, it has all the makings of a fine lair.”“If you like it so much, I would be happy to leave you.”She could do it too. Along with being disgusting, this tomb is also a labyrinth. Even if I had been paying more attention, it would take at least half a miracle for me to find my way out on my own.I don’t know who showed Issak the way, probably my father, but she doesn’t seem to be bothered by the dark or the maze.“Can I ask you a question?”“I’m at your service, my Prince.”“Oh shut up, I’m being serious for once.”“As am I…”“Fine. Well, my Knight, my question is why did father leave this task to you, rather than one of the thousand or so Ministers we have back at the castle? Beside the whole Griffin chase thing, it seems like a monumental waste of your talent.”“Crowning a King is a waste of my talent? You think too highly of me Prince.”“You know what I mean, I’m sure there are a half-dozen Ministers who would wet themselves for the opportunity to walk me around this crypt. Why send someone who could actually be doing something useful?”She stops walking, that stillness falling over her like a cloak.“Tradition.”“Sure, but…”“Do you know why the title of Last Knight was created? What our purpose is?”“Easy, your job is to lead our armies into battle, and protect the kingdom from…”“Yes, that’s our job, but that’s not our purpose.”“What’s the difference?”“The difference is why I’m here, and not some Minister. Now come Prince, I think we’ve dallied among the ghosts long enough.”We walk for what seems like hours.Issak doesn’t speak, and I don’t know what to say to her.The title of Last Knight is as old as the kingdom itself, but I’d never heard anything about some higher purpose. Issak has been with my family since before I was born, but other than keeping the Generals in line, and teaching me how not to stab myself to death with a sword – her job seems pretty straightforward – help us win our wars, and keep the family from being murdered in its sleep.I remember one time an Ashkentian assassin from the Gods Isles managed to break into our chambers, and murdered all of my Guardsmen. Somehow, Issak had gotten the drop on him, just before he was able to slit my throat.Father had told me after that the Last Knight was the King’s Crown. I asked him what he meant by that, but he said that by the time I was ready to rule, I would understand.I still don’t understand.“We’re here.”“Here” is the only place in the crypt with light. Three large, oil lamps illuminate a square shaped room. A room filled with bodies, dozens of them, wrapped and oiled and neatly stacked on shelves.“Great, so this is where I become King…I think I understand why the Ministers weren’t interested in making the…”Issak draws a blade from her belt. The blue steel glitters in the lamp light. I take a step back. Not that I have any way out, but…“I asked you earlier, what it meant to be King.”This is not good.“You don’t have to do this Issak. I don’t even understand what you’re doing. This doesn’t make any sense!”If I run, I won’t make it ten yards.“You told me that a King is a caretaker…”“Issak…Please, put that knife away, a guy could get the wrong impression.”If I fight, I’m as good as dead.“That your job is to protect your people as you would protect your own family…”“Right. That’s what I said. I will protect them, as you’ve protected me. Your job is to protect me Issak!”If I could only understand what she was saying.“And what if I choose not to protect you? What if I killed you right here?”Too late, might as well go down swinging.“Well, in that case, I guess we’d both be pretty piss poor at our jobs…”She smiles that predator’s smile of hers.“I guess so.”Then presses the knife into my hands, those grey-green eyes of hers moist and glittering in the half-light.“Wait…Was that just some kind of psychotic joke?”The stillness again.“I wish it were my Prince. Have you heard the expression, ‘the Last Knight is the King’s Crown’?”“Yea. My father told it too me once, what does it mean?”“Do you know whose buried down here?”“Not a clue. You’re being a lot more cryptic than usual Issak. Why don’t you just tell me?”She tilts her head towards the shelves of corpses, the neatly oiled dead, but never looks, not even for an instant. When her lips part, her voice is hollow, so unlike her bird’s.“They are Last Knights, the ones who have had the honor of crowning their Kings.”“Wait…”“I knew you would say something like that.”I spent most of my childhood training with Issak, but I don’t think I ever truly saw her move. One moment she is standing still and silent, the next, my blade has buried itself, as if by magic, into her chest. The time between these two realities is less than a heartbeat.I scream, tearing at my riding leathers, making a ridiculous attempt to free a strip of fabric and try to stop the blood.“Wh…Why are you doing this Issak?”“To teach you that a King is more than a caretaker, more than a protector…”“I…I don’t understand.”“When you bury me here with my brothers and sisters, the men and women who have protected your family for centuries. When you emerge from this crypt as King, as all the Kings before you have, you will…”Like stories? Here are more just like them . Like stories read to you? Subscribe to the podcast . Like stories for your eye holes? The comic might be for you.