Wilkia- Ch. 1: The Crusades
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The year is 1286, month July, day 21, Friday.
The Crusades weren't going so well. Many of the Knights Templar had fallen upon breaching King Solomon's temple. God only knew how we would get those artefacts out alive.
I should clarify in saying that the forces that we were fighting weren't our own; they were enemies of the Knights Templar who had seized the Temple from King Solomon.
I took cover behind a wall under our control, and took a quick drink from my drinking pouch. The water was cool and refreshing as it entered my mouth. I returned it to my belt and continued fighting; sword and shield at the ready.
My superior met up with me in the courtyard and ordered me to break into King Solomon's citadel, get to the top, and kill the mastermind behind this and any whom tried to stop me. I didn't regret saying yes. But I would regret seeing what I did...
I wiped my sword clean with a rag before I burst into King Solomon's main war room after ten minutes of fighting through the enemy's finest soldiers. I found a man looking over a 12-by-12 foot model of the temple, and our positions were laid out along with his.
He looked up from his strategies, took one look at me and began begging for his life.
"Please, sir! I beg you! Do not kill me," He pleaded. As I slowly approached, I noticed he had a book in his hand. I wanted to know what was in the book, and if it would explain how he knew our every move...
I came within melee distance of him and lopped his head off. His body slumped to the ground and blood flowed like a river from his neck. His head bounced into the corner, with cold and lifeless eyes staring into the ceiling. I kneeled over his body and wrenched the book from his fingers. Reading the cover, I immediately recognized it...
"The Knights Templar's War Strategies and Battle History," it read. Only one person could have gotten this book to my enemy, and I knew just exactly who it was...
"So, all this time meant nothing to you?" I asked. In the corner, another person stood and watched me. "Saving lives together? Supporting each other as factions? Fighting alongside one-another?"
"Knights Templar- I can explain!" He said. I stood up, and faced him, and then wiping my sword clean once again with a separate rag.
"Save it," I continued. "Now I understand what you really wanted... You wanted to betray us in the Crusades."
"It's not like that! My superior told me to!"
"If he told you to jump off a cliff, would you?"
"N-no..."
"Good... Because I wouldn't want you to..." I sighed... What were we going to do? My best friend had just betrayed me and all of the Knights Templar. "These will not be your last words. But they will be your last words to me. And mine to you... I hope you're happy with the treasure he promised you. May you have peace and order in the future... Hungary..."
With that final note, I left, shedding a tear behind my helmet. Then, a plan arose... I knew what we would do... We must leave Europe, never to return, for if we didn't: we would be killed by our adversaries in the night.
I left the citadel, and fought through the grounds to find my superior. We needed to finish this battle, and hightail it out of here as fast as possible.
I found him in the courtyard along with a group of Templars. They had gained the treasure from King Solomon's vaults, rescued King Solomon, and were now making towards the gate.
I fought my way to them as fast as I could, even taking down a few enemy soldiers while running, like an assassin. God, my broadsword and shield were taking beatings! I knew I would need new ones, but there was no time for that now; I had to cover my ally's retreat. After another half hour of fighting, we were finally home free.
But then, we weren't home free... At least as far as I was concerned. We still had enemies within King Solomon's Temple that would track us down and kill us until all in the Knights Templar were dead, regardless of whether they were knights or not. Hungary was now their ally, so we couldn't go to them even if the route weren't cut off.
Other countries would now be after us as well. We did have precious religious artefacts, after all. We had the Ark of the Covenant, the Holy Grail, the Golden Menorah, even the Holy Spear. Countries interested in seizing them were now our enemies... We needed a way to disappear, and I knew exactly how...
We came to La Rochelle, France to rest and re-arm, but my superior was a bit sceptical; we had to keep the artefacts on holy grounds, and there was only one church in La Rochelle that would accommodate us. I would have to explain my logic...
"We need to face facts, my friend," I began, "We are vastly outnumbered when looking at our direct enemies alone. We are low on food, water, soldiers, and recourses. We need a plan, and we need it now!"
"Well, what do you have?" He asked.
"Glad you asked," I continued. "We slowly evacuate Europe over the course of 20-30 years. Whilst doing so, we have United Kingdom and France modify their military journals to make it seem like they are slowly destroying us. We'll even have the Pope give them a hand. If they agree, we can build a fleet of ships larger that the Spanish Armada, and evacuate citizens and soldiers of the Templar in those. Then, 20 to 30 years from now, we leave with the remaining ships."
"Flawless plan, but where will we go? It's not like there's any other land out there! Remember: our world is flat!" He stated.
"There's got to be other land out there. I refuse to believe we are the only ones out here."
"What about-"
"I WILL TAKE THE RISK!" I yelled. "I just want to get out of here. I'm tired of politics, I'm tired of fighting, and I'm tired of losing everyone around me. If there's any hope of getting away from all this confusion, it's out there. Out there in the unknown."
"I'm sorry," my superior apologized, "I keep forgetting that you're the representation of everyone amongst us. Your motives are the people's motives. We will go through with your plan."
"Thank you..."
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The year is 1312, month July, day 21, Wednesday.
26 years ago to the day, the Crusades had ended. 26 years ago to the day, we had rescued religious artefacts. 26 years ago to the day... I had lost a friend.
We were leaving that behind today. We would leave this place for a heaven out amongst the unknown. We would start anew, and become powerful enough to defend against any attack. We would be hidden by United Kingdom and France's war journals, and the Pope's lying about what really happened to us.
So why was I having second thoughts? We were leaving for something better, and yet, I no longer wanted to leave... Something was holding me back.
I took off my helmet, and looked at it. It's look was cold and unforgiving. Angry, and merciless. I had worn that helm through everything, weather to conceal my identity, fight in a battle, or hide my facial expressions.
This was the thing to leave behind. Looking inland, I drew my arm back, and threw the helmet as far as I could. It disappeared behind a sand dune, and landed in the sand. Upon seeing it disappear from sight, I finally let go, and was ready to leave.
I boarded the last ship, and left along with the fleet. Little did know: that someone picked my helmet up...
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The trip to... Wherever we were going, was long, and rough, and stormy. I had a tough time keeping the ship in a straight line during a storm, never mind: turn to avoid a rock.
The 18-week trip did have it's moments, though. King Henry the 5th had decided to come with us in our journey as a new Templar. He was a delightful man, and we spent many a calm night anchored so we could play poker, drink, and share a few laughs.
After 18 weeks, we finally found land, and due to the stars, we knew it was a land never before discovered. We were overjoyed in that we could spend some time resting.
But there was a problem...
The land we had come across was inhabited by a tribe that called themselves "the Mi'kmaq." We could not stay here. Where there's people, there's war, and that was what we were trying to get away from. King Henry and I debated aboard our flagship: The Galleon.
"We cannot stay here," I said. "Where there's people, there's war, and that's just exactly what we're trying to get away from."
"I disagree," Henry stated. "The crew is weary, our food is low, and our gold is putting a strain on our ship's hull. We must stay here, at least for a while."
"I see your point, but we have our principles to keep in mind."
"Principles mean nothing if we are not around to keep true to them."
"Then why would people make principles that could end up putting them in mortal danger?"
"I'm not Shakespeare! I don't know!"
"*sigh*... Fine," I said. "We will stay here until our supplies are replenished, and I have put together a plan."
"Then we need a plan extension soon. We can only stay so long before our crew think it's ok to make a permanent settlement."
"On it..."
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I stayed up all night thinking about how we could continue on without displeasing the crew. Then it hit me: we would replenish our food and water reserves until we could not carry any more. We would then bury our unnecessary cargo, such as gold coins, so we could take on more food and water, and finally, we could set sail.
I awoke King Henry, and told him of my ideas. He agreed.
We spent the next week building a chamber that we could store our 2 000 000 English pounds worth of gold in. In return for demolishing some of the Mi'kmaq's territory while building it, we taught them new methods of fishing, and ways to build their shelters.
Before we left, we put a few finishing touches on our secret vault, and gave the Mi'kmaq a piece of paper containing instructions on what they were to do if anyone ever tried to excavate it. A stone tablet was placed at 90 feet below the surface with the words "forty feet below, 2 000 000 pounds are buried." carved into it. A curse was placed upon the vault that "7 must die before the secret is revealed."
Everything was set. Bidding good-bye and good luck to the Mi'kmaq, we readied the fleet, and set off in a sow-westerly course in search of new land.
12 weeks later; we found it. It was a near perfectly square island, with a few flaws, relatively flat grounds, ad many trees. Best part of all: no people.
This would be where we would live. We would build a fortress with impenetrable defences. With this fortress, we would send any with hostile intent to their graves in the sea, we would create the strongest Navy the world would ever see, (if it saw it at all) and I would never have to worry about constant war.
We would call this fortress "Hillfield Stronghold," and in this fortress, I could finally relax.
