Note: Thanks for all the review they make me feel loved. Well for the romantics out there I tried to start a love thing, it's not a very good one for I am not a very good romantic but its worth a try. So what would be prefered? A romance or the reunion of Kida and Liam? I could do both with time but some of you seem to want Kida and Liam to reunite. Let me know which you prefer. A romance would make the story longer, but maybe you think the story should end before it gets any worse. It's all in your hands. If you say the word I put this story out of its misory with a swift few chapters or I could prolong it with a romance. Please let me know what you think. Thanks. Kat

Settling In

The knights wondered at what they were doing. Never before had they been called out in full armor. Once they were all mustered in the courtyard Arthur came out on his white steed prepared for battle. "Knights, we ride now to fight. I guarantee no battle but I believe it wise to be prepared for the worst." Lancelot rolled his eyes; sometimes Arthur drove him insane with his over cautiousness.

"What?" the knights protested. They had to get all dressed up for nothing.

"Silence!" Dag yelled. Everyone fell silent and stared at the small giant; never before had he raised his voice at anyone. "Arthur is our leader; we must do as he commands." The other knights looked at him in awe. These were the most words most of them had ever heard pass through his lips.

"Thank you Dagonet," Arthur said gratefully. "There have been signs of the enemy in the eastern forest line. The woads are notorious for their ways of hiding in the shadows and striking when least expected. I don't want any of you to fall by them, which is why we are all dressed for battle."

The knights nodded. Arthur may be overly cautious but he was on their accounts which very few commanders ever cared about for they were only pagans, no better than slaves that are easily expendable and replaced. The knights' respect for Arthur grew with each passing day for they discovered that he did care if they lived or not. Most would follow him to the very depths of hell if he asked.

They all waited his signal to leave. Most wishing that they would run into the blue deamons and slaughter them. They were ready to fight. The younger knights were excited for this would be their first real battle. The weathered veterans were calm, cool, and prepared; they have done this many times, it made no difference who the enemy was.

Liam rode next to Dag. He was excited, scared, and disappointed all at the same time. Excited because if the Fates allowed a battle it would be his first battle; scared because he did not know what he faced. Because he was excited for battle he was disappointed in himself for he had spent most of his knight training set against killing but now that the situation presented itself he was like all the other blood thirsty warriors that he despised all his life. He did not like those men but was he turning to be like them with these weird feelings he had as they rode into battle? Did all knights feel these feelings as they rode into battle? Was it the sense of death that aroused such emotions? He did not know the answers but he was about to find out.

Lysander watched his new knight. He was certainly an odd one. On the first morning that he was there the young knight came into the hall and stood in the corner waiting for his orders, afterwards he set out to do them immediately while his other knights stood around and talked for a while. Even new knights he had before never had such dedication to their duties. This intrigued him and he continued to keep a close watch on the young knight.

Kida was unnerved at the commander's interest in her. She knew it was not the fact that she was a girl but still it gave her a very uncomfortable feeling to see him gaze at her. It seemed like when ever she turned around he was somewhere close by watching her with his icy blue eyes. Much of the time he would lower his gaze and act like he was enthralled with whatever task he was up to but a few time she caught his gaze and held it there for a few seconds before she looked away, her cheeks glowing red.

Silently, Kida cursed herself. She was a boy, she was Kiran. She was not a girl, she was not Kida. It embarrassed her that the commander took such an interest in her; it was not intimate interest but still why should she be singled out from all the rest. But what embarrassed her more than being singled out was the fact that she liked being singled out. It made her feel special, something she had never felt like before; but she did not know why he singled her out and she knew she had to be wary of him or she could loose her life.

Arthur and his knights rode towards the eastern forest. Near the edge he called a halt and they scanned the trees. Nothing stirred. Lancelot was highly annoyed by the fact that nothing came, he had almost hoped for an attack so that he would have something to kill he had been peaceful far too long.

When nothing surfaced for quite sometime, Arthur turned to Tristan, "Tristan take a few men in and search for any signs that the might have been someone hear." Tristan nodded and took three knights with him into the forest. Liam and Dag shook their heads, they had seen something that they were sure, but perhaps they were a bit too hasty in their assumptions of it being the enemy. They looked at Arthur. Arthur gave them a nod as if to assure them that their choice to act was the right choice.

They waited impatiently for Tristan and the others to return. The horses moved uneasily as if sensing something foul in the air. As the minutes passed, no scouts came. After ten minutes Arthur looked at Lancelot and nodded. Lancelot smiled and took Bors, Gawain, Dagonet, and Liam with him into the forest. Lancelot knew what he had to do.

Arthur watched as Lancelot led his men into the forest. It had been far too long for a scouting party to search for signs something must have gone wrong.

Lysander continued to watch the knight Kiran. There was something funny about him. He knew he had seen him watching him for he had caught his gaze a few times, but Kiran did nothing but turn red and ignore him. Most knights would be spooked to find their commander watching them so closely. In fact some of his senior knights noticed how he kept watch over the new knight and teased him about it. They said he must like him to keep such a close watch on him. Lysander ignored their teasing and secretly got his revenge with giving them the chores no one liked such as cleaning out the latrines.

Kida heard rumors fly around that the commander had his eyes on other me. If that were true could it be…She shuddered at the thought. She did not let on the fact that she had heard the rumors; instead she just carried on as before. If the commander was in fact attracted to other me than she would just wait for him to make a move before she attacked him. It was hard to believe that such a man could be gay, for he could have any woman in the place. Kida just shook her head whenever anyone tried to question her about the commanders liking towards her and answered truthfully, "I never spoke to him."

Tristan sent his three scouts out in different directions, separated they could cover more ground. He sent his bird off and then began to search the undergrowth for signs of inhabitance. He found nothing. Slowly he mounted his steed and turned to go when his bird cried out. Tristan whipped around; his bow ready. His eyes searched the shadows. They were there, he knew they were. Just where were they was the problem.

Arthur waited for his knights to come back. What took them so long was beyond him but he knew that something had to have gone wrong. He turned to his remaining knights; they stood ready for a fight. He turned back to the forest, his eyes searching the shadows for some sign.

Arrows flew through the air as Lancelot and the others tried to make their way to Tristan who stood in the center of it all. Where the other knights had gone they did not know, all they knew was they had to get Tristan out of the enemy's range. Lancelot signaled to Bors to start fireing back. Bors nodded and took out his crossbow and began to shoot it into to the trees. Tristan fired his bow at unmarked targets and hit his mark every time. Soon all the knights were shooting arrows back at the enemy.

Suddenly the raining of arrows stopped and all grew unnaturally quiet. Tristan had an arrow in his bow ready for anything. Liam and Dag drew their swords while Gawain and Lancelot and Bors place arrows into their bows. The knights waited for the devils to reveal themselves.

Kida was surrounded by darkness. Her heart raced. She heard the beating of her heart pound in her ears and her lungs hurt from lack of breath. All around her she sensed the enemy, but she could not see them. She could not see anything; not even her own nose. Suddenly a blood stopping cry sounded through the air. She gasped; frozen in place. AGHHHHHHH!!!!!!

Cries erupted from the shadows. The horses screamed and tried to throw their riders. The knights struggled to keep seated. From all directions blue demons flew out of the shadows towards the knights. Tristan let loose a storm of arrows, taking down many of the demons. The others drew their weapons and charged. With a great clash the two sides met, like a wave beating furiously against a rock. Metal twanged against metal. Flesh beat against flesh. Men's cries filled the air as they died and blood soaked the ground.

Lancelot and the others fought with all their might, but the blue demons out numbered them and they were trapped. Lancelot dropped his ax and took up his two swords. If he was going to die he was going to take as many as those damned devils with him. Tristan abandoned his bow and took out is long curved sword. Gracefully, he sliced at the demons, slitting their throats with a single swift movement. Like a graceful dance, Tristan swiped and slashed the demons leaving them dead or nearly there. Bors took out his hand knives and barreled into the mass of demons. He hacked and chopped at the abdomens of the blue men; giving them lethal stomach wounds. Dag swung his large double-edged sword cutting men down like trees; while Gawain used his simple sword hacking off limbs and heads of any who attacked him. Liam just flung his sword trying to hit what came within his reach.

All of them were determined to take as many demons down to hell with them, they fought viciously, not caring if they lived or died. Arthur led his other knights to the scene and found his brave knights fending off woads. Arthur ordered his knights in and they charged at the blue devils. The devils did not even show fear they just poured more men in. The knights cut, swiped, slashed and wrestled the blue men. The devils sensed they could not win and pulled back. A great cheer sounded from the ranks of the knights as they pushed the demons back into the shadows. Liam whooped as he watched them concede. They had won.

They had now reverted back to arrows and both sides let off a great stream of arrows like a flock of birds they flew through the air in perfect formation. The woads pulled back as the knights let off more arrows. The woads let off one final wave of arrows than disappeared into the forest. The knights watched as the final stream of arrows flew. They landed loding themselves into tree trunks, bushes, dirt and flesh.

Liam gasped as one barreled its way into his chest. He gasped, spewed blood and fell. The world began to swim. The colors faded. All began to grow into darkness….

"LIAM!"