Arc is a knight-in-training who wants revenge on Ryker. Ryker marched into his village and took over. It was a tyranny; children under the age of 6 were killed and men were taken to join the army or intense labor of mining, making weapons, or working on the fields. Mothers were forced to care for knights who barged into their homes. Food was scarce because the warriors of Ryker would eat all the food. All schools were shut down and in place of them, training camps were opened for the children to learn how to fight, and one day to join Ryker's army.
Ryker and his warriors all said the people of Seagate deserved nothing but dirt. They were all thieves and brats. The people of Seagate are thieves because numerous years ago, Seagate had two classes; the rich and the extremely poor. The poor had to steal from the rich to survive, which started out as pickpocketing and then developed over time. Eventually, the numbers of the rich dissolved and the poor were left. The poor people taught their children the art of thievery and to their children. People of Seagate found their wealth in fishing and the mines, but they still teach thievery since it became a tradition. However, most people don't steal because of their chivalrous hearts.
When Ryker ordered all children under the age of 6 to be killed, Arc's family panicked. Their youngest child, Celeb, was only 6 months old and their only daughter, Brietta, would turn 6 in 3 days. Arc's parents and his older brother, Arthur, begged Ryker to spare the youngest children, along with numerous families. However, he ordered his knights to apprehend Arthur. Arc's parents cried to Ryker, "Why did you take our son?!"
With malicious glee, he responded, "You thieves dare to come to me to beg?" Ryker then roared to all the families, "You have all heard my orders! This is what happens when you question me and my orders. GUARDS! Take them back to their homes!"
Arc nearly broke when his mother and father, Emmerson and Curtis Pendragon respectively, told him Arthur was gone. Arthur was his hero, his role model. Since that day, he vowed to find his brother and kill Ryker. And later on, more events will fuel his rage and grief.
Once dawn hit the next day, knights stormed the streets and ripped children away from their mothers. Emmerson screamed at Arc, "Find Brietta and Celeb! Run!"
Arc nodded and ran to his room and grabbed bags he'd prepared for this situation and threw on a cloak; small bags that include clothes and rations. He went to Brietta's room first because he knew she'd be scared. He threw the door open and saw her shaking like a leaf. He threw the bags onto her bed and ran to her.
"Arc! What's happening?" She sobbed. Arc tightly embraced her.
"Shhh, it's okay. You-You'll be okay," he attempted to soothe her. Brietta sobbed again and cried, "I'm scared!"
"I know, I know," Arc replied with tears in his eyes, "But you need to do something for me. I need you to put on your cloak, wait here, and be extremely quiet. Can you do that for me? Please?"
Brietta nodded and he sighed in relief. "Go." While she ran to her hiding spot Arc flew to his mother's room where Celeb is. Celeb was wailing at the top of his lungs. Arc held his baby brother in his arms and tried to soothe him.
"It's your older brother, Arc. You'll be okay," he said while trying to wrap a blanket around him. Once Arc he finished, he placed Celeb in a baby carrier and ran to Brietta's room and called out to her.
"C'mon Brietta, we need to run," Arc said and had put on the bags. He took Brietta's hand and led her downstairs where Emmerson was.
Emmerson was crying, "My beautiful children. I'm so sorry I can't protect you. I love you all so, so much," she said while kissing each of her kids. She looked directly at Arc. "Protect your siblings, my son. I love you." The entire family was crying. Suddenly, the shouts and cries were growing louder.
Arc knew what was to happen. Emmerson shouted, "Go. GO!" Arc grabbed Brietta's hand and fled from the house. Where were they going? To the woods.
They ran for what seemed like hours. Arc had fears about finding more soldiers in the woods, crazed animals attacking them, or even natural disasters. However, anywhere but Seagate is safe.
At around 3 o'clock, the first danger arose. Well, not so much as a danger later on. Arc and his sister found a very large rabbit hole to rest in. About 20 minutes later, the crunching of leaves was heard. Brietta gasped and Arc covered her mouth. He thanked God that Celeb was asleep.
"Brietta, hold on to Celeb," Arc whispered while handing her the baby, "Make sure to lift his head a bit. Good. Now, wait here."
Brietta held a face of terror, "But-"
Arc shook his head, held her to his chest, and replied, "Brietta Winston, you have to stay hidden. If Celeb cries, run as fast as you can away from the direction of home. Promise me you'll do that." Brietta nodded her head against her brother's chest. Arc murmured his love to his sister in her hair and kissed Celeb's forehead, whispering the same 3 words.
Arc stood up and snuck out of the hole. He crawled to a nearby tree and crouched behind it. With heavy, terrified breaths, he shakily peered at the source of the noise; 2 men and one woman wearing armor. In other words, they were knights.
Seagate hasn't seen any knights other than the dark ones who served Ryker. It was given that Arc would assume the worst when he laid eyes on the men. He snuck around the trees, carefully, to get behind the knights. He was terrified for his own safety, his siblings, and not to mention he had no plan. Through his peripheral vision, he spotted two rocks. Arc picked up the rocks, one in each hand, and crept towards the knights. His heart had beat faster and faster as he approached the knights.
Unlucky for Arc, one of the men spotted a shadow and turned around and shouted, "Hey!"
Arc had hit the other man on the head, who was knocked unconscious but to slow to do the same to the female knight. The woman spun around and twisted his right arm behind him, elicited a cry of pain from the boy. Arc dropped the rock in his right hand and attempted to hit the fully conscious man with his left hand.
"Stop this!" The male guard yelled as he grabbed Arc's left arm as Arc still struggled.
The woman whispered to the male knight, "I didn't know Ryker enlisted boys to his army. That's just cruel," which Arc had heard. With all the commotion, Celeb cried.
Everyone froze, listening to the baby cries and a young voice shushing the cries. Arc's heart leaped to his throat and yelled, "BRIETTA! RUN!"
The knights saw a little girl crying and running with a lump in her arms. Arc kicked the shin of the female knight and ripped his arm away from the male knight. He pushed both knights back, and using his thievery skills, he swiped the swords of both knights, threw one far away, and followed his siblings.
Arc quickly caught up to Brietta and quickly took back Celeb, who was still crying. With the added weight of the sword, all 3 knights had caught up to the family and blocked them off. The two originally conscious knights were in front, while the formerly unconscious knight was behind the family.
The knight Arc knocked unconscious pointed his sword at Arc's neck. "Take a step and your head comes off," he said while Arc slowed his movements when he pulled Brietta closer to him. "Drop the sword. Slowly." Arc complied.
The woman took back her sword. The two in the front pointed their swords at Arc and his sister. Because of this movement, Brietta started to cry. "Arc. I-I don't w-w-wanna d-die. P-please do s-something! They're s-scary!"
Arc hissed at the man who pointed his sword at a little girl who was barely six, "Get that thing away from my sister!"
The man did not remove the weapon. "Who are you? Tell us or she dies!" The man pulled Brietta away from Arc and placed his sword close to her neck. Brietta screamed for her older brother and continued to sob.
"I-I'm, I'm Arc Pendragon. Please let her go! She's an innocent child!" The female knight looked at the knight holding Brietta.
"Mark, let her go. She doesn't look older than 6," and Mark let the girl go who ran back to Arc. The woman sheathed her sword and spoke out loud.
"You don't wear any sort of Mark of Ryker," she commented. Then she spoke to her companions, "Boys, any warrior of Ryker would be able to get out of this predicament. And they would be armed. Let 'em go." The men sheathed their swords.
Brietta and Arc sighed in relief. Arc knelt and pulled his sister to his chest, being mindful of Celeb. He jigged Celeb a bit to get him to stop crying. After a few moments, Arc looked at the knights and said, "Thank you."
The man who was knocked unconscious replied, "We're sorry for the trouble. I'm Sir Noel and that's Lady Kathleen and Sir Mark the Serious," and Mark gave Noel a dirty look as Noel continued, "We're knights of Astoria."
Brietta's head snapped up with tears and hope in her eyes and questioned, "Knights of…Astoria? You-You're heroes! You can help us!"
The knights were confused. Sir Noel asked Arc, "Help you from what? Wait, maybe we can make a deal. Tell us the direction of Seagate and we can help you guys."
Arc sharply replied, "Don't. Don't go there. Our home has become worse than an eternity in a jail cell on the top of a freezing mountain with no food," and the knights were taken aback.
Sir Mark asked Arc in a serious tone, "What's the situation of Seagate and how'd you get out?"
Disclaimer: I do not own Knight Squad