Everlast

Chapter 27; A challenge for the realm.

The army marched once the rising sun had turned the sky a gentle pink.

All around Ajay, the pine trees shook with the sound of pounding footfalls, and even the birds stopped their singing as the grim footsteps of a thousand elves marched through the homelands of the Nightlings.

Above them, the sky began to gather dark clouds, as if preparing an omen for the events that had not yet come to pass. In the near distance, thunder rumbled like the malevolent voice of a god, warning them to stay away from whatever fate awaited them.

Ajay swallowed down his breakfast that threatened to make a second reappearance and kept on marching at the head of the group with Thistle, Jareth, Dagon, and Grimble.

'Emmer should be here with us,' he thought as they walked on, 'She wanted this. Believed in it.'

The air was thick with tension when they reached the edge of the forest and came into what was commonly called the Night's battlefield.

"And so it begins," Jareth said. "We come to the place that Farran died years ago. I only hope that you, Ajay, don't meet the same fate."

Ajay hoped so too.

Standing stoicly at the edge of the battlefield, they suddenly heard the blowing of many trumpets and the thundering of hooves that seemed to shake the very sky itself. Then upon the horizon appeared the shapes of many goblins, each one clad in armor black as the skin of a Haunter. Upon their heads were spiked helms and their pale faces were hidden by shadow.

Yet before them on a terrible steed whose eyes shone red, sat the goblin king himself.

Tall, proud, and with a wicked gleam in his eye, he reminded Ajay vaguely of Dagon, though crueler and not nearly as handsome.

Reining to a stop before them, the goblin king looked them all up and down, speaking in a manner as though he were bored already.

"So it is true, then? The Chosen One has come to challenge me for my throne."

"It's Jareth's throne, father." Ajay heard Dagon speak up suddenly. "Now if you could kindly give it back, we'll be on our merry way..."

Whirrling around on him, the king gave his son a look of loathing and disgust. "You. I should have known you would be the one to betray me."

"Good to see you as well, father." Dagon replied, grinning smugly, "Looking paler than usual I must say. What's wrong? Is the cook trying to poison you again?"

In one swift movement, the goblin king had drawn his sword, its tip leveled at Dagon's throat. "You should hope to live long enough to regret that smile."

But before things could escalate much further, Jareth stepped between them, knocking the king's blade aside.

"I should say the same of you," the Nightling replied. "We have the Chosen One; a boy not of this world coming to lay an end to your tyranny."

Snorting, the goblin king gave Ajay and appraising look. "He'll die like all the others."

Filled with a new boldness, Ajay faced the creature and said strongly, "I may. But I do not intend to die without a fight, for I am here to reclaim the throne for Prince Jareth of the Nightlings!"

The goblin king laughed, "With that little army? You could barely fight the fae with that."

Naturally, he was right. There was no way they would be able to defeat such a force, and it wasn't as if Ajay could use a spell to magically make more soldiers appear. And though they might have used Dagon as a bargaining piece, Ajay judged from the look the king gave the goblin prince that he would rather start a war than have his son back.

Wracking his brain, he tried to think of a way to avoid battle, to avoid spilling any blood...

Any blood but his own.

Suddenly, an idea sprang to mind, coming up from the memories of when he and Emmer would spend their days in the library, reading about all sorts of things. Now, he remembered an ancient goblin custom that could sway the fate of a nation. That could win back a stolen throne.

It was quite risky, as it was essentially trial-by-combat, but it would mean only Ajay and his Second and the goblin king and his Second would have to fight. Whereas the armies would simply watch, their lives spared for the moment.

Looking the goblin king in the eye once more, his heart hammering in his chest, Ajay spoke the words that sealed his fate.

"Sire, I challenge you to a Throne duel."

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