7.5 Knight's Code
Sorry this is late and kinda short and bad but I've had A Week
The day Clay Moorington got his first copy of the Knight's Code, he knew knighthood was right for him. Within its organized pages held every bit of information a knight needed to excel in the world. The care and cleaning of weapons. The basics of diplomacy and how to act around Lords and Ladies. Battle strategy. French. It was the most perfect book Clay had ever seen, and he devoured it in two days. Everything was so clearly laid out, answers to every problem and how to act in every situation.
The day Monstrox attacked was the day Clay realized that there were a few things the Knight's Code had left out. Sure, it was the infallible guide he'd lived a majority of his life by, but who could plan for the return of an ancient evil wizard turning your best friend evil? So maybe there wouldn't be exact advice. That was fine. It would be fine. If Merlok could beat him once, then he could do it again and Clay would rally the others to help and it would be over quickly with no one hurt.
There is nothing in the Knight's Code about death. Sure, there's a small section on how to act during funerals and how to offer valor to a fallen comrade, but there wasn't a word on what to do when you failed. When the victim wasn't a brave knight but a young man the same age he was, burned to a crisp by Monstrox's abominations. It felt wrong that it had been a sunny day. That the birds had sung over the sobbing when the village was in ashes around them and the scent of fire and death was heavy in the air. There was nothing he could think of to do or say as the cedar box was lowered into the ground in the small graveyard just outside of the village. And then eyes had turned to him, to the leader of the team, the one who was supposed to have everything under control. Words failed Clay with the weight of expectant, mourning gazes.
It was Lance who stepped up. Clay couldn't remember anything the other man had said in his brief, impromptu speech that had both been all too brief and lasted all too long.
Clay couldn't sleep that night. The Fortex's electronic humming felt like insects rushing around him, droning on and on right in his ear. His copy of the Knight's Code stared at him from his bookshelf as he lay in bed, the once pristine pages marred by annotations and years of paging through them. He'd entrusted those pages with his future, saw the promise of a well-traveled path with generations of past knights' wisdom to guide them, but what was the point? His friend was gone. A man was dead. How had it taken him this long to notice what it lacked? With a sigh, he rolled over so he wouldn't have to look at it. Books were the last things he wanted to see these days. The dull blue wall of the Fortex wasn't much better and if he closed his eyes, he swore he could feel the eternal hum of the mechanics in his bones, but it shook the thoughts in his mind loose and it seemed to be the only solace he'd find these days.
Heyyy so what if I made Clay lose faith in the system he found comofort in due to the weight of his own mortaity and failings?
