Chapter 7: The Firefight, Part 2
A strange, purple aura emanated from the Crystal Blade. I'm not entirely sure why, but by pure instinct, I plunged the blade into the ground in front of me. The area began to shake and shudder as small fissures began to spread. From the cracks rose the skeletal bodies of the many generations of previous guardians of the capital. They formed ranks and attacked the enemy. Valtak was almost tempted to retreat, as he thought they would've tried to attack us instead. "I don't know how you did that, Dakre, but keep it up. The enemy is outnumbered."
Valtak and Urkrad fell back and watched my undead army fighting fire with fire. When the enemy numbers fell to just the leader, it used it's gem to summon even more minions. I had to get to that stone somehow, but then an idea popped in my head. "Destroy the minions!" I called out. "Their leader is mine!" The undead soldiers ceased fire on the gem and spread out against the enemy. I left my sword in the ground and charged at the commander head on. Focusing my power on my dominant arm, I literally shattered him into a million pieces with a fast uppercut to the gut. The moment I smashed it's heart-stone, the fire doused itself and the enemy skeletons collapsed down and sunk back into the ground.
Urkrad retrieved my sword, then the fissures in the ground disappeared. My undead army stopped, turned to us, waved goodbye, and turned to dust. "I think you might have discovered one of the sword's secrets." Urkrad told me. "Yeah. I've noticed that a little bit. And I don't think that was the last of the swords' secrets, either. Still, it's pretty cool. The blade can empower itself with the energy of whatever comes to mind during combat." As we brush off the dust and ash from the battle, a representative from the capital rushed in our direction to thank us. "Thank you, Hero Corp. for protecting our city. The royal Family has invited you to the castle to be knighted, as special thanks for your heroic actions." "Well, it is our job to help, after all." "Ha! Follow me, please."
The representative takes us to the castle complex of the capital. He stops us at the doors of the throne room. "Please wait here. I will call for you when her majesty's ready." As the representative exits the room, Urkrad gathers us in a huddle. "Ok. When we go through those doors, the whole city will be watching us, so be formal and appropriate when we go. I don't mind if you wave and smile a little, but don't do anything foolish. After this is done, we are going to meet with her majesty once everyone has left. I'd like to ask her if she knows where the Strouse family lives and where we might find some answers." "Alright, let's do this. For the team!"
The representative peeks through the door, "Queen will see you now. This way, please." We pass through great doors and enter the throne room. As we walk down the pathway, I notice a few of the guards leaving the area, which actually seemed a little weird. I thought the guards were to remain in the room when the Queen is present. Whatever. We reach the throne and kneel before the Queen. "Esteemed warriors of the Hero Corp." She announced. "I have summoned you here today because of your previous heroic actions for saving this dear city. As thanks, I shall be presenting to each of you a Medal of Honor." After receiving our medals, we lined up for the knighting. The Queen revealed her sword and tapped our shoulders. "Rise, Knights of the Hero Corp." Soon after the applause ended and people started leaving, Urkrad requested a small chat with her majesty.
Once the room was empty, I went and locked the doors upon the Queen's request. "I'm sorry for having you lock the doors, but if we need to talk, then I need to make sure no one else is watching. What was is that you wanted to know?" "We found a note within the hilt of Dakre's sword that says that the secrets to unlocking the blade's power had been entrusted to the Strouse family. From what we know, the Strouses are somehow connected to the Royal Family. I was wondering if this was true and if so, where might we find them." "Well, you definitely came to the right place, young knight. Yes, the Strouse's have been serving my family for generations. Where they live, I don't know. But I do know that one of the eldest sons works for the blacksmith in the city of Catamaran. Hopefully this info has shed some light on your journey." I trade looks with Valtak. "Yes, it certainly has." I reply. "Thank you for lending your time for us, your highness. I hope we didn't take you too far off schedule." "No, no, it's fine. It was a relief to finally take some time off. Anyway, farewell, young knights. Take care on your travels."
After saying our farewells, we exit the castle complex and roam around town for a few minutes. I stop Valtak near one of the shops. "So, it seems like you have an apprentice you haven't told us about. Care to fill us in about it?" "His name is Ben. When I first met him, I had no idea who he was, or where he came from. He just walked up to me and asked if I needed any help with whatever I was working on. I decided to make him my apprentice, since he showed an interest in my work. So I trained him to hopefully become my replacement for when it was my time to retire." "So, why didn't you bring him out to meet us when we arrived at your forge?" "I had him take the week off so he could visit with his family, just to make it fair. By the time we get back to Catamaran, he should be starting his first shift as my replacement."
"You knew about this the whole time and you didn't tell us?" "Hey! I never would've known if he was that important, especially when I met him. Anyway, he's a nice kid, and I'm sure he'd be eager to meet you when we get there." Just before we headed out, a hawk screeched in the distance. Urkrad put on a leather glove and raised his arm out. The hawk landed and perched on his glove. He removed a small piece of parchment paper that was tied around the bird's foot and released the hawk. "It's a note from Mino. It says she has finished her work and will be meeting with us back in Catamaran."
So then we were on our way back to Catamaran to go meet Valtak's apprentice. Mino would meet us there once we arrived. And just like she said before we left her place, we were both looking forward to see each other again, and maybe get to know her better. I know Urkrad disapproves of me with her, but I'm sure he'll mellow out about it eventually. Only time will tell.