Shortly after my time in the depths I had made the formal decision. (for like maybe the fourth time) to go back to the order of knights i had joined as Methorim’s squire. he and I had a falling out way back since my incident with the Boneyard, and i had not sought to repair things with my 9 year mentor.
This time however i was more committed to actually going back. I mentally prepared myself for all the things that were probably going to happen. All the looks and stares and gawking and shaming that was bound to be amongst the prideful beings there. I still resolved myself to show up anyway.
I focused and felt the new darkness i had acquired from the depths still distinct amongst all of the other darkness i’d gathered before. It kept reforming itself as a whole rather than just remain assimilated through my darkness and always as an external object separate from my body and armor. I chuckled and made a passing comment to it’s similarity to something i had read about before and immediately it took the shape and felt almost ‘right’ being that way. That caught my attention quickly, but Almost right isn’t right. So i had to begin changing how i would adapt it to myself. But i would save that for another time.
I steeled myself and brought myself back to the Order’s castle. it didn’t take long before i was before it’s gates. For a place that i had only visited once and stayed for only about a month it certainly felt nostalgic and with that nostalgia came a bite of guilt. I had barely gotten into their ranks before I fucked up in one of the biggest ways possible.
I took a deep breath and walked inside. some people recognized me others couldn’t have cared less. I walked around for a bit, before finding the place i was looking to go. I stood in front of the door of the General Knights conference hall with some trepidation.
“Come in. we’ve been expecting you.” someone called from inside.
‘Fuck’ was the first word that came to mind, but “I am entering now.” is what I said.
I placed my hand against the door and pushed it open almost as easily I do a normal door. i make nothing of it as I step into the room where all the general knights sit. All except Methorim. his seat is empty. I remember all the people there except one. The one person that took over the spot of the recently deceased General Knight that i had only briefly seen through the guise of a doppelganger.
He glares at me with disgust clear on his face. I look around the room trying to guess their judgement of me. Unfortunately for me most are passive faced so i can’t tell what they think of me.
I bow to them and raise my head. “I have returned.” it’s all i can think to say. I am not sure what to say or do. Juraksool nods at me and tells me to move into the center of the room. I do and feel a shiver up my spine. Being in the middle of all of them feels like i might just end up trapped and awaiting a death sentence.
“Why is he still allowed in here?” the newest general asked with as much venom as he could muster. there was a pause for a moment before one of the general knights simply said. “Because he can still open the door.”
I smiled ever so slightly at the response, but kept my eyes only on Juraksool. He held a small smile on his face as well. “You have been busy child. You’ve changed a great deal since last we met.”
I nod. “I’ve learned many new things. Been to many new places.”
“And brought shame upon our order doing so, you brat.” the new general said accusingly.
I suppressed my emotions so i didn’t speak out of turn, but Juraksool lifted his hand. “He knows what he has done, but his actions do not speak for all of ours. He has tarnished his own self and not the name of our Order. Or do you presume to know how it is exactly that he has come to lose his name?”
I shivered at the statement. I knew they knew about the fact that i lost my name, but I was never sure if they knew how or why. I wasn’t sure if i wanted to tell them why exactly.
The general knight stared me down a moment and huffed in contempt. “No Lord Knight. I am not aware of how he has come to lose his name, but i see no reason to allow him to stay as a member of the order. Having a nameless amongst our ranks is disgraceful enough.”
Juraksool finally took his eyes off of me and gave a the general a glare. “Stop with your incessant whining about disgraceful actions. in this very room I made the fatal error of being caught unaware by the enemy, but this boy saved my life with his power. In that respect it was disgraceful of me to rely on the help of a squire, but he has never once tried to take advantage of that fact. It slipped quietly in the history, but you wouldn’t know that. You weren’t allowed into this room yet. If you cannot be quiet and allow him to give his reasons for what has happened, I will find a task for you to accomplish and the meeting will continue without you.”
The general knight held his tongue, but it was evident that he felt like he’d just gotten slapped in the face. His glare at me was filled with fire and poison, but he also seemed a bit ashamed himself.
Juraksool turned his attention back to me and looked me over. “Do you wish to remain in our ranks?”
My jaw kinda just fell open. I blanked out because i was expecting a straight up rejection, and not a question of whether i wanted to stay or not. After a few moments of silence passed by I thought about it. I nodded. “Yes. I would like to stay in the order.”
He nodded. “Good. Now, I must ask. Why you have come here on your own and not with Methorim?”
I took a deep breath and sighed a little. “We...had a disagreement as I was paying for the mistake that culminated in me losing my name. I have not spoken with him since.”
Juraksool nodded in quiet understanding. The new General gave a smug smirk as he looked down at me and I felt the need to pop his bubble. “I have chosen not to forgive him for what happened between us and so i have not sought his guidance since.”
The General knights looked between each other in mild speculative interest, but Juraksool nodded once more. “Understandable. Times such as that test the nature of people and bonds are tested from both sides. Now there is an important thing that we must know. Are you still the squire of General Knight Methorim?”
I felt myself tense up slightly out of fear and slightly out of anger. The answer to that was vague. He’d threatened me with removing my apprenticeship, but never formalized it. I hadn’t sought him out to fix things, so i wasn’t really learning anything from him. “I am unsure of what we are to one another right now sir.”
Juraksool looked at me and raised an eyebrow. “If he is not mentoring you at the moment than you shall be given the temporary title of knight. Your previous display of skill has earned you at least that. Majority here have agreed to that much.”
I was surprised to say the least, but I smiled happily. That lasted about a total of 2 seconds because the new general knight began his protestations immediately. “I don’t see how this child could be a knight. From what I was told he merely has an overabundance of strength and his uncontrolled power is what let his steal the victory from his opponent. Not to mention his opponent losing himself to his emotions and preoccupying the beast long enough to allow him to accomplish the task. I say we give him a more easily measurable task.”
I would’ve thought that he would’ve been shut down, but a majority of the Generals actually agreed with him. I was okay with it until he named the task. “If he can manage a single strike on me. I’ll accept not only his strength, but the skill of a knight as well.”
I groaned inwardly as he jumped down and called his weapon to him. it was some kind of short curved stick with a blade on the end. Way to short to be a spear, and the blade was curved almost like a miniature war scythe. i pulled out my spear and readied myself.
The new general focused down on me and i could feel his power trying to smother me. It was heavy, but I fought it off with my own power and kept my stance firm. The signal was given to start and i jumped in first. i had hoped that the suddenness of my attack would throw him off, but he blocked the attack easily and we began an exchange of blows. He was noticeably keeping himself from using his full power, but he wasn’t holding back too much of it. I’d say he was using 65-70% of his full strength, but it was enough to keep me from doing much as i was. So i decided to switch it up on him.
My four other eyes opened and with it came another surge of strength. I struck while he flinched at the sudden change and knocked away his weapon enough to create an opening. I went in for another strike, but he swiftly dodged and fixed his form. I growled in frustration and charged him again. I continued striking at him a few more times before changing my form to the silver predator i had dreamed of in the coliseum. My moves were a lot more nimble and sharp and it threw him off his balance. I shifted forms again into one of the Dancers. That form drew interested looked from everyone in the room, but when i began to move into a war dance i heard their grunts of pain and discomfort. The war dance twisted most of their visions and threw the new general off and made him misstep. I took the advantage immediately and grasped his forward leg with my tail and jerked it to the right as i grabbed his head and pushed it to the left and used the momentum to kick his spinning torso. He flew to the far wall as i landed.
I had accomplished the task, but I immediately felt that he wasn’t playing around anymore. his body hit the wall and the second his feet touched the ground he was rocketing towards me. I reverted to my normal form and pulled up the strongest barrier i could and raised my weapon to block and i was glad i did. He broke through the barrier and my weapon groaned under the force of the strike, but i successfully blocked it. I doubt i could’ve blocked much more, but i didn’t have to. The other generals were next to me after that last strike and they gave him the silent warning to stop.
He gritted his teeth and let his weapon fall away into his shadow. “While i don’t know how you...changed like you did, it was an effective means of combat. It showed your...skill to be that of a knight’s.”
i bowed my head to him a little fearfully, but he just turned away and returned to his seat in the half-circle of general knights. The others did the same and then i felt a summons.
“Good.” said Juraksool, “Now that that has been settled there is much to discuss.”
The pull got stronger, but i didn’t let myself be pulled away. “I apologize Lord Knight, but I don’t think i’ll be able to answer your questions for much longer. I have somewhere i must be.”
a different general began to ask me if i had grown arrogant in my thinking because of my new title, but then a portal opened behind me and i felt the presence of the Bloody Maidens right behind me. “I cannot leave right now.”
They did not say anything, but i felt a hand reach out from the portal and smear blood under my right eye in a single horizontal line. “Do not keep us waiting. That mark will only come off if we wish it.”
the hand and presence disappeared and i was left with several stunned and confused General knights. I smiled a little as i looked at Juraksool. “I’ve been to a lot of new places.”
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