Lady of the Knight

Chapter 16 - The warrior

"Imogen! Imogen wake up!"
A familiar voice was bringing me back to consciousness. I was sitting in a dark and dingy cell with my hands and feet chained together. My leather armour had been stripped from me and I was dressed in rags held together at the waist by a rope belt. My head was throbbing and I groaned at the awful pain.
"Imogen!"
I looked up and Brienne was sitting opposite me, also chained and dressed in rags.
"W-what happened?" I said groggily.
Brienne shuffled over to me, "they found us" she said.
The realisation that we were now at the mercy of the Red Riders hit me and my heart sank.
"I'm so sorry for all of this Brienne. You should have just left me in the woods that day" I said defeatedly.
"Imogen if I could go back in time to that day...I would still save you" Brienne confessed.
"Why? All I've done is cause you trouble and now we're probably gonna die at the hands of these fuckers!" I said the last part extra loud so they could hear me.
"Because despite what you think you're a good person!" she said angrily, "you're incredible actually...and I-".
She was cut off by the sound of keys jangling and the cell door slammed open causing us both to jump. Two hooded Red Priests entered.
"On your feet Forester" the left one commanded.
"Fuck you" I spat at him.
With a wave of his hand he took control of my legs by magic and stood me up, I grunted at the forceful pain.
"Our leader has special plans for you, you should be honoured" the right one said in a snide voice.
"Don't you fucking touch her!" Brienne yelled but as she dove towards them she suddenly stopped, her whole body frozen in place.
"Alright enough! Take me if you must but leave her out of this!" I pleaded.
"Hmm two sacrifices are better than one. But Garthax has only asked for you" the right one said.
"Just give me a few minutes with her. Please. Then you can take me to this Garthax" I said.
They looked at each other and nodded.
"Two minutes. But we're keeping your guard dog on a leash" the left one said and Brienne remained paralysed.
As soon as they left I held Brienne's face, "I know you can't talk Bri and it's probably better this way. I just want you to know that I love you with all of my heart and I'm so sorry for getting us into this mess. These past few weeks with you have been amazing, you're the most wonderful person I've ever met. You're brave, loyal, kind and beautiful. Don't let anyone tell you anything different. I'm really going to miss you but my past has caught up with me now and I have to face the consequences".
I kissed her and even though she couldn't kiss me back I knew she would have put every ounce of love into it if she could. Instead a single tear rolled down her cheek.
"Time's up" the left one said as he reentered the room. I wiped away my tears and took one last look at my lady knight, "goodbye Brie".

*

The Red Priests walked me through a series of torchlit corridors until we reached a large round chamber surrounded with arched stained glass windows. At the far end of the room there was a stone altar with four other Red Priests gathered around it, with the all-too-familiar bearded priest from my dreams standing in the middle of them. My blood began to boil again just at the sight of him and his stupid wide grin.
"Ah, Imogen Forester! My my! I haven't seen you since you were a tiny baby!" he said mockingly.
"You must be Garthax," I said through gritted teeth.
"In the flesh my dear" he held his arms out as if I should be basking in his glory.
"Am I supposed to be impressed?"
He chuckled, "just as cocky and arrogant as your brother I see, what a pity".
"You're a fine one to talk, you righteous bastard!" I shouted aggressively.
"Oh we could trade insults all day my dear but we have a job to do...and you have a debt to pay" he said menacingly.
The two Priests holding me shoved me into the centre of the room. The ground hummed as various shapes and symbols started to glow around me and I realised I was standing in the centre of a ritual circle.
"Ah perfect" Garthax said rubbing his hands together with glee, "the Lord of Light will be pleased".
Suddenly we heard loud bangs and cries on the other side of the door. It sounded like they were far away but it was enough to catch everyone's attention.
Garthax huffed dramatically, "go and see what that ruckus is!" and the two Priests behind me ran off to investigate.

"I trust you know the truth now about what happened when you were born" Garthax said as he walked around the altar to approach me.
"Yes I do. But I'm not thanking you. You may have given me life but you stole my mother's and father's just to satisfy your so-called Lord".
"Your parents simply got in the way and upset the natural order. It's their own fault really. The Lord of Light didn't want them, he wanted Jacob. But I...want you. You owe me your life, especially after you murdered my most trusted captain".
He was close to me now, looming over me. His piercing blue eyes were full of evil intent and his constant grin was unnerving.
"Get on with it then" I challenged him.
"Patience my dear. These things require careful planning and...execution" he said, placing a heavy emphasis on the last word.
He grabbed my wrist and took out an elaborate ceremonial dagger, he sliced across my palm and let the blood drip on the floor. His eyes then rolled into the back of his head as he chanted some kind of prayer or incantation. The ground beneath us quaked violently and beams of white light shot up through the etchings on the stone floor.
"Kneel" he demanded and through a movement that wasn't my own my knees hit the hard floor.
"Excellent" he muttered then grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and whispered, "you're going to regret challenging me".

Once Garthax took his place back at the altar, all of the Priests raised their arms to the ceiling and began chanting together. The chants were melodic and got louder each time they repeated them. The circle around me got brighter, blindingly so. My pulse increased, my heart beat at a speed I couldn't keep up with, my head felt like it was going to burst, my muscles tightened, my skin burned like it was on fire and my blood sizzled in my veins. It was the most excruciating pain I'd ever felt and I screamed out in agony as blood trickled out of my eyes and ears.
My life flashed before my eyes; running around Berxley as a happy child without a care in the world, kissing girls and sneaking ale out of the taverns when I was a teenager, learning about the forge and my failed attempts at making weapons as a young adult, Jacob playing pranks on me and telling me awful jokes, pouring my heart out to Garrin as he sat and listened for hours, the comforting yet distant memory of my parents' faces, meeting Brienne and the best night of my life.
"Good...bye" I managed to utter as I let the pain take hold of me.

Suddenly the door behind me burst open. I couldn't see quite what was happening but I heard the angry determined cries of a warrior running into battle. Time itself seemed to slow and my pain began to subside as the lights grew dimmer. I saw flashes of red and silver with the sound of a sword piercing flesh, the warrior cutting down whoever stood in their path. When the light was nearly gone I looked up to see several dead bodies scattered around bleeding and the towering heroic figure of Ser Brienne of Tarth standing at the altar over a cowering Garthax, Oathkeeper in hand dripping with blood.
She grabbed a fistful of his robes and lifted him off the ground so he was just above her eye level. Her grip was so tight that he was turning blue and choking.
"Your God can't save you now old man" she growled and stabbed him straight through the stomach. A single line of blood trickled from his mouth and when she pulled the blade out she threw his lifeless body aside just outside the circle.

Brienne ran over to me and I fell into her arms, my body felt so weak that I couldn't stand or even speak. I kept touching her face to make sure she was real and not just another dream.
"It's me, Imogen. I'm here. It's over now" she kept saying as held me tightly. I cried into her chest and clung onto her with what little might I had left, my warrior rescued me yet again.
"Bri-enne-" I slurred.
"It's OK, come on let's get-ARGH!" she cried out in pain as a blade pierced through her shoulder.
A pale and bloodied Garthax laughed maniacally behind her as she dropped Oathkeeper and fell onto me. Seeing Brienne hurt at the hand of Garthax caused my strength and rage to return in an instant. I picked up Oathkeeper and rammed it straight through his chest, pushing him into the wall.
"Your life for my parents lives. Your debt is paid" I whispered to him.
Now his blue eyes were losing life and his smug grin was long gone. I pulled the sword out and he collapsed, blood seeping from his wounds.