"Heart of the Crown" Chapter 58

[seymoure]

Chapter 58

The Knights of the Sky

Morgana and her riders were cruising at a comfortable speed, letting the endless miles of grassland melt away beneath them.

At a safe distance, Count Gerathio aboard his dragon kept apace.

If they had all known any of the same songs, they might have sung, for that was how happy the three men were. Upon the back of this magical beast, their quest could be over in mere days rather than weeks.

Then a spear whizzed past the head of their mount.

Suddenly on every side, they saw something none of them had ever witnessed before.

Armed for war were flying men! They were carrying something that resembled crossbows, but without the bow. They were armored from head to foot in black shiny metal.

But the most amazing part of them was their method of flight. Each of the soldiers was carried by a huge pair of wings. The wings did not appear like those of birds, but more like those of bats!

The sound of their wings slapping the air also sounded like leather.

The advance member of the group, the one that was uniformed to look more like a commander, held something the shape of a large funnel to his mouth.

“Hold!” he shouted in a voice that was louder than would have thought possible from one no larger than he. “You will cease your flight through the space of the Avian Empire.”

The three men looked to each other, but it was obvious that this was a name unfamiliar to any of them.

No one noticed that Count Gerathio had pulled back out of easy observation, and therefore out of conflict.

“What do you want?” Sandor shouted, suddenly aware of how small his voice was under these conditions.

“You are prisoners of Avia,” the same warrior proclaimed. “You will return to the capital city of Neest with us.”

When presented with an overpowering number it seemed that there was little choice.

Sandor slapped the reins and Morgana followed the bat-winged forces to their as yet unseen citadel.

© 2008 C. Wayne Owens
Chapter 59 is here.