Page 65 of Keeper of the Flame: Orrick

“I love you, too,” he told her, turning and hurrying off to the stable. As Hope watched him go, she could only pray that he wouldn’t be killed now that he was no longer immortal.

* * *

Orrick and Lord Corbett rode up to the cave with a dozen soldiers following them.

“Here it is,” said Orrick, leading the way, stopping just outside the entrance. He spotted a horse tied up in the thicket and knew Lord Irwin was inside.

“Men, stay here,” commanded Corbett, holding his hand in the air. “Sir Rick and I will enter the cave by ourselves. And be warned. If you see Lord Irwin, protect yourselves. He is immortal now and cannot be killed.”

“Then how are you going to stop him?” asked one of the men.

Corbett looked over to Orrick, most likely wondering the same thing.

“I will enter the cave by myself,” said Orrick.

“Nay,” protested Corbett, getting off his horse. “It’s too dangerous.” He pulled his sword from the sheath. “I’m responsible for Noah and I won’t just sit here and do nothing to save him. He is like a grandson to me.”

“All right,” said Orrick in a low voice. “But stay behind me and keep to the shadows. And stay out of the way. I’m most likely going to have to use my magic to fight him.”

“Is that necessary?” asked Corbett, looking distressed. “Noah is in there and I don’t want him caught in the crossfire.”

“All right. I’ll do whatever I can to fight Irwin without using magic. But I will resort to it if there is no other choice.”

The men entered the cave and Orrick stopped, holding up a hand to Corbett, listening. Further inside the cave, they could hear two people talking.

“What are you going to do with the Eternal Flame?” asked Noah.

“I’m going to use it to fight my enemies and build a strong army. I figure if I’m immortal now, mayhap I can use it to make the rest of my army immortal as well.” Irwin chuckled. “With this kind of power, no one will be able to stop us. I might even conquer the king and take the crown as my own.”

“You’re not supposed to use the flame for bad things.”

“What do you care? You’re just a ragpicker so mind your own business.”

“Bad things will happen to you. You can’t be the Keeper of the Flame,” said Noah. “You don’t have magic.”

“That’s Noah,” Orrick whispered to Corbett as they crept forward, stopping in the shadows, able to see Irwin and Noah now.

“Don’t have magic?” asked Irwin with a chuckle. “I’m invincible and immortal now. That’s the best kind of magic. Just look at this.” He purposely used his dagger to slice his arm. The wound bled for a second, then closed up and healed instantly. That made Irwin laugh even more. “This is too good to be true.”

“If I were a sorcerer, I’d turn you into a toad using my magic,” said Noah, waving the wooden wand in the air that Orrick had given him.

Irwin got a laugh out of that. “You go right ahead and try,” said the man, sticking the torch that held the Eternal Flame into a holder in the wall.

“What are you going to do with me?” asked the little boy.

“You’re my ticket out of here. As soon as I’m out of danger of Lord Corbett’s men coming after me, I’ll dump you.”

“Dump me?” asked the boy, sounding very sad. “You mean that you’re going to leave me on the church stairs like my parents did?”

“Church? Hell no. I’m going to leave you in the hills. And if you give me trouble, I might push you off a cliff, so you’d better behave. Do you hear me?”

“You’ll not harm a hair on the boy’s head,” warned Orrick, stepping from the shadows with his sword drawn.

“Sir Rick, so nice to see you,” snarled Irwin, unsheathing his sword as well. “Or perhaps I should call you Orrick the sorcerer. After all, I know that is who you really are.”

“Give me the flame, Irwin,” said Orrick, walking closer. “You can’t handle the power. It wasn’t meant for someone like you.”

“Oh, so you want to fight me with your sword again?” asked Irwin, amused by Orrick’s action. “Haven’t you had enough of losing in the practice yard to me?” With his sword outstretched, he stepped forward.