A cool breeze swept over the open plains of Stornway, sending a small, pleasant shiver up my spine as I took a deep breath of sweetly fragranced spring air. I stretched my arms above my head and lifted the heels of my feet from the ground until my body felt as tight as a bowstring, then released back into neutral position with a satisfied sigh and made my way down the road out of the city, Riordan at my side.
"So, for now, I want you to stay behind on my left and only jump in if you need to." I directed him as we walked together, spying a lone Hammerhood exceptionally close to the city entrance. "We'll be working together, of course, but I'll be taking point." I said, unsheathing my rapier.
Hammerheads were stout little creatures with crudely fashioned mallets and a colorful pelt that covered their head like a hunters hood. They were a common predator in many places in the world, though it was a wonder how they managed to thrive when their unwieldy weapons caused them to scarcely land a hit.
Riordan lazily blew at a loose curl of hair covering his eyes. "Stand back and do nothing, got it." he quipped. "Oh wait, stand back to your left and do nothing, I mean." he added with a little snort.
Ignoring my companion, I took a quick forward lunge, connecting the sharp tip of my sword to the monsters vulnerable eyes. No hesitation, no mercy, just as I had learned from watching Ivor fight. One sound hit was enough to send the creature onward into a cloud of violet smoke – its spirit free to coalesce into a new life later on.
I heard a slow clap from behind me. "Wow we both did so good, super glad I'm here to help." Riordan drawled as he smacked his hands together in an exaggeratedly heavy fashion.
I scowled. "Hammerhoods are only dangerous if you give them the chance to be. It's smarter to go in fast and hard before they get the chance." I explained patiently.
"Sounds like a good plan against, uh, everything to me." the boy said as he shrugged and sauntered past.
We continued on down the dirt road I had first traveled when I arrived in the city only yesterday, and as we approached one of the small fields of wildflowers dotting the countryside, Riordan gripped my arm suddenly, tight as a vice, jerking me close to his side.
"Hrk! Wh-what!?" I demanded as he pointed one slender, shaking finger towards the flowers.
"A-a-a-lta! Look there! What do you suppose we should do against that fearsome beast!?" he pretended to whisper in a loud raspy tone.
I squinted into the grass beside us and saw a single She-Slime rustling about in the flowers, looking awfully perturbed by our attention.
Riordan whimpered. "Looks pretty scary to me, you should hit it hard and fast before it shoots a mega-beam of death out of its mouth or something." he said, mock-concern dripping off every word.
I idly wondered what a teacher like Master Aquila would do with a student like Riordan, as the aggravated monster bounded its gelatinous body towards us. Blade in hand, a mere flick of my wrist saw to it that the creature was no more. Though mutation caused them to appear a different color, they were hardly any more dangerous than your average slime; they were only quicker to fight due to their alarming orange color making it hard to blend in to most of their surroundings, they felt easily threatened because they simply were.
I shot Riordan an annoyed glance. "I would think you would be grateful not to be going up against anything too dangerous. Do you really want to test your knife out that badly?" I asked.
He shifted his eyes away from mine for a moment, to where the She-Slime had once been happily frolicking among the flowers, then back to me, a mask of neutrality settling over his features. "I'm just trying to have some fun, you're taking this really seriously." he accused.
I felt my brows furrow. "I take my job seriously! As should everyone."
Riordan's head tilted to the side. "Your job as a minstrel?" he asked, confused.
". . .Yes. Every job I have is serious to me." I tried not to lie. "Come on, since you're desperate to be trouble, the next time we run into something, you're handling it. Alone." I said as I turned away from him and off the road.
"What? Hey! That sounds pretty serious still!" he shouted as he made his way after me. "I-I know this was supposed to be a punishment, but come on!" he whined.
We cut through the field and up a small hill along the side of the city walls. As we were approaching the very back of the city, I stuck out my arm to halt Riordan. "There." I said, pointing beyond a small boulder in our path. Just barely peeking out from behind it was the distinct shape of a Funghoul, a mushroom-like creature with an abhorrent odor and ability to knock its foes unconscious with spores should they not pay close attention.
"Ugh, you're not kidding are you." the boy said, throwing his head back dramatically. "Fiiiine, I've chopped up a few mushrooms in my time anyway." he said with a faint smile as he closed the distance between himself and the enemy in efficient, light footfalls.
I saw just how impressively he moved when I was chasing him throughout the city, but it was still a little surprising to witness it again. He could go from a slouching, lazy, little urchin to a refined and graceful predator in the blink of an eye. I imagined getting the drop on his target would be ideal for his style, and as I thought, he made short work of the Funghoul.
With a rapid volley of attacks, many weak or shallow on their own, but ultimately too many to overcome, the enemy was gone, and with scarcely a chance to retaliate. Riordan stood proud and arrogant, tossing his knife casually from hand to hand. "Heh, how's that for a little slice and dice?" he asked.
I gave him an exaggerated shrug and smirked. "Gee, you've really shown me, guess you should take point from here till we reach the Loch Storn." I said.
His eyes narrowed. "Wait a minute."
I simply had to laugh. "You can't have it both ways. You wanted to impress me and you have, congratulations."I replied. Mortal children were a funny thing, I was beginning to discover.
Even though he grumbled about it endlessly, Riordan very capably lead, and I allowed him to direct me as he needed. He showed little understanding on how best to utilize another person in battle, but he at least knew immediately whenever he was in over his head against an enemy, and would ask for help. That's a lot more than many young, brash fighters could say for themselves, Celestrians included.
We fought Hammerhoods, She-Slimes, and more Funghouls along the way, none of which did much to slow us down. It wasn't until the sun started to set and the Winksters began to appear did we face proper resistance.
"What in the Almighty is that!?" Riordan screeched as a small ball of fire whizzed past his hair; his curly ends mildly singed in the process.
"An enemy. Focus." I replied, dancing around a She-Slime and meeting the Winksters eye with the tip of my rapier. It let out a shrill cry as it reeled backward, another ball of flame readying at the end of its staff. "Incoming!" I shouted as I lunged sideways, out of its magics path, and hoped Riordan was paying enough attention to follow suite.
"Oh gosh. Oh geez." I heard him say, his tone obviously distressed.
Whipping my head in his direction behind me, I saw the boy grimacing down towards the ground in front of him at a pile of melting orange goo, formerly a She-Slime; the small fire ball had obviously missed its intended mark and had made quite a mess at that.
I inwardly winced for the poor thing, but couldn't let it distract me. "Keep your head in the fight, Riordan, because your body is still in one." I reminded him as the Winkster, nearly blind, charged its way towards us in a rage.
The beasts were small, vaguely humanoid mono-eyed monsters that could harness basic magics. I didn't know much else about them, but they weren't terribly difficult to handle once they were on their own. I engaged the Winkster up close, keeping it off balance and distracted, eventually leading it to foolishly turn its back on my partner.
I didn't have to give Riordan the order, he knew what to do with an opening when he saw it. In a short few seconds the magic beast went from struggling with me to a puff of smoke; the remains of its slime cohort following suite right after.
"Good work." I said.
Riordan tilted his head to the side in disbelief. "Really? You yelled at me a bunch and also my hair was on fire a little. This is good to you?" he asked, twirling his burnt ends between his fingers.
I fought down a smile and nearly lost. "That's pretty impressive for an enemy you weren't prepared to face." I said.
He shrugged off the compliment. "I guess if that's- oh." Stopping mid-sentence, Riordan shuffled past me with a look of mild surprise.
I turned around and saw what it was that caught his eye so suddenly.
The sun hung heavy and brilliant in the sky, sinking quickly beneath the sea, coloring the underbelly of the clouds orange and painting a burning streak of light across the ocean. As the water shifted and rolled, the light danced and sparkled atop it, like an undulating road of diamonds laid out before us.
We stood there together silently, in awe and wonder equally. Standing on the edge of the land with my feet planted to the earth made everything seem so much bigger than it had before. I never once stopped finding the world breathtaking in all my years as a part of it, but seeing it in this way, being reminded I was such a small part of the whole, made me realize it was even more exceptional than I had believed.
As the sea overtook the sun, the world around us began to glow pink as the sky darkened around its edges. I felt an intense chill blow upwards from the water and knew it was about time we got going, though it appeared we were both hesitant to leave.
Riordan seemed unbothered by the cold, his posture relaxed as the wind beat against us, his features soft in the low-light of the dying day. "It's been a long time since I've been able to enjoy the sea." he said, his voice sounding uncharacteristically small. "I've lived most of my life near the water, here and there, but those weren't always. . . enjoyable years. . ." he trailed off.
I put my hand on his delicate shoulder and lightly squeezed. "Why think about what's behind you when you could look ahead?" I asked, gesturing to the scene before us. "Though I think we've enjoyed this one long enough, don't you think?" I replied gently as I walked away, allowing him some space. I knew a kind life wouldn't have produced a child quite like Riordan, but I hadn't wanted to make him feel too vulnerable. After my experience with Ivor, I found it best to tread lightly, and not underestimate the mortals ability to feel so much, all at once, all of the time.
After a minute or so Riordan returned to my side, and we quietly made our way across the bridge to the north that the king had told us about. Sure enough, there was a small, barely legible road sign nearby that read, "Follow the road north to reach the beautiful lakeside of Loch Storn.".
The boy and I both leaned in, peering at it closely, then ahead of us, then back to the sign again.
"Road?" Riordan asked incredulously.
"Must not be a popular tourist destination these days." I said, looking toward the overgrown path that wound off the main road, and to our apparent destination.
"Well if castle-crashing, princess pilching knights like to hang about the place, I wouldn't be planning a picnic there either!" Stella chimed in, her shrill voice reverberating around my brain meat like a hailstorm of throwing knives.
I grimaced and pressed my palms to the sides of my temples, tucking my chin into my chest in pain. "I wish you wouldn't do that." I said through clenched teeth. As she stopped speaking, the intense pressure inside my head dissipated quickly, back into the small but heavy stone of discomfort at the base of my skull I was beginning to grow used to, but hoped I never would.
Riordan looked at me wide-eyed and worried, with a deep frown that looked painfully natural to his young face. I smiled in what I hoped was a comforting manner and assured him I was fine.
"I've seen this before. . ." he replied rather quietly, as if he wasn't sure he even wanted to say it aloud.
"People talk to themselves all the time." I said, attempting to laugh it off. "I'm just so used to traveling on my own. . ."
He simply looked at me out of the side of his vision and nodded, moving ahead down the abandoned side road, obviously more uncomfortable with the discussion than I was.
The path itself was more of a scar through the forest that hadn't quite fully healed rather than a suitable walk way, but it left an obvious trail to follow, winding through a dense evergreen wood that only thickened and swallowed up more of the path as we went on. By the time we made it to the lakeside the "road" had all but disappeared into tall grass and long since fallen branches.
"Huh. No one here. Biiiiig surprise." Riordan said with a slight huff as we entered into the clearing.
It held no candle to the sunset we had seen earlier, but it was a surprisingly lovely area all the same. It was a generously spacious clearing that overlooked the water and a curious little island adorned with a stone monument not far from the coastline. I could imagine a time where children ran around in the grass, playing reed flutes as their parents sat by the waterside hand-in-hand. But now it was just a little too wild and over-grown to imagine.
The sky had become dark, but the stars were exceptionally bright, and the deep water of the lake reflected them so clearly I felt as if I could fall into the night sky right from the ground. My back ached at the thought of flying again, a phantom pain of my wings being ripped from my back, and I sadly tore my gaze away from the water.
I cleared my throat. "Well. Looks like we may not end up fighting anyone after all." I said.
Riordan hoisted himself up into a small tree by the edge of the lake with ease. "Fine by me I guess, hope the King still gives us something for being super wrong though." he said, pressing his weight tentatively against the branches as he looked for a suitable resting place.
"Good?" I asked. "If the knight isn't here, that likely means he's targeting the castle again, I doubt he'd succeed in whatever aim he has but I would hardly call it 'good'."
The boys face fell and panic swept over him. "Ah! Does that mean Princess Simona is in danger!? We hafta go back!" he shouted as he began to scramble back down from the branches.
I pressed my hand into his chest to stop his descent. "We don't know, but I would like to wait here just a bit longer before heading back. If it was ever the princess he was after, he'll be here." I assured.
Riordan gulped, and eased back into his perch. "Then he'll definitely show, no one would miss the chance to see her. . ." he said, his blue eyes floating upward towards the stars, a dopey little smile slowly creeping across his face.
I left him to his reverie and made my way to the very opposite side of the clearing.
"Stella."
At my call, the fairy quickly popped out of my brain - no display of light or fanfare heralding her arrival this time - and looked around with exceptional annoyance. "Well, I can't see head nor tail of this Wight Knight fellow. I've never been stood up before, you know, this better not break my streak." she threatened, her manicured hands in fists at her hips.
I considered her for a moment and for once completely believed what she said. No one even remotely sane would dare stand her up. Though she was small in stature, every inch of her was pure concentrated attitude. If the Wight Knight didn't show, I imagined her hurt pride would have me walking the earth just so she could give him a good telling-off. And I would have no choice but to do it too.
"What do you reckon, Altairis? Want to give it a bit longer?" she asked, already looking entirely bored with the suggestion as she eyed the empty clearing.
"Yeah, at this point I'm more afraid of disappointing the king than anything else. I'll give it most of the night, just to be sure. Take the moment to stretch your wings, okay? Just stay away from the boy." I warned.
Stella flipped a lock of her thick sandy-blonde hair over her shoulder and sneered. "You don't have to worry about that. He may have been spending his down time in a church, but he has no gift for the superbly supernatural like myself." she assured me as she flew off over to the lake with a little trade-mark fairy flourish.
Hours passed. Riordan fell asleep in his newfound loft among the tree branches, incredibly at ease in the outdoors. Stella spent her time floating over the water until she got bored and decided to harass me in the guise of fashion advice, and for my part I spent the time running through simple practice drills, missing Lanugo and the bed I had back at the inn, and pointedly ignoring any fairies in the area.
As I was finishing about my tenth set of repetitions, I heard a frustrated wail from beside me. "Ugggh! Still no sign of him! What sort of knight would send a lady in the lurch like this?" Stella asked, body hanging limply from her wings as she listed through the air.
I blew my breath out hard through my mouth in similar frustration. "Yeah. I'm starting to think this was unnecessary. I should wake the kid up and drag ourselves back to civilization." I said, gathering my things.
"Oho, allow me!" Stella chirped as she gleefully hoisted a small pebble up from the ground as if she were hefting a boulder, and chucked it at the boys face. The tiny speck of rock plinked him on the tip of his nose and he awoke with a little shudder.
"Bwuh? What? I-Is the princess here?" he muttered softly through the lifting haze of sleep.
I chuckled. "No, you silly-slime, that's not who we were waiting for, remember?"
"Ah!" Riordan bolted upright and casually fell from his tree in a three-point landing, running up to my side, knife drawn. "Is he here!?" he asked, his back to me, head swinging wildly around.
I gripped the sides of his arms firmly and he lowered his weapon, confused. "No," I said, "we're leaving. If he doesn't show up by the time I get my foot into that forest, we're going back to Stornway so I can tell the king what happened."
"So you'll tell him nothing?" Riordan joked.
"Come on." I said with a laugh, giving him a little push towards the old path. I was disappointed this was a dead-end for reaping benevolessence, but a part of me was relived to keep the kid out of too much trouble. Maybe being willing to do something good would have to be good enough.
Stella trailed right beside me, looking as if she would pop back into my head for the remainder of the journey, just before stopping short of the entry to the woods. I followed suite, grabbing Riordan by the sleeve to halt him too.
"Ack, what now?" he asked, turning towards me.
"I don't know yet." I admitted, turning back towards Stella, waiting for her explanation.
She looked scared, nervous. "I thought I heard something close by, something like. . . hooves." she said, biting her lip. "Why do I get the feeling that if I turn around he'll be there?"
"Alta, what's the prob-" Riordan's question was cut off by the sudden sound of neighing. Disembodied neighing. "WHAT was that!?" he asked instead.
We took a few cautious steps back into the clearing, and it happened again. A strange, echoing neigh broke through the tense quiet of the night and all three of us whipped our heads toward the direction it came from.
Atop the cliff face, right above the tree Riordan had been perched in earlier, was a man on a horse. The sinking moon was full behind them, both clad in obsidian armor from top to toe, head to hoof, like living shadow, each set of armor etched with green and gold details that practically glowed underneath the starlight.
"Why does that horse have glowing red eyes?" the boy beside me whispered, more to himself than to me.
Stella sunk low behind my shoulder. "I have a bad flapping feeling about this one. . ." she muttered before slipping back into my mind.
I took a small step forward towards the cliff, putting myself between it and my companion. "Wight Knight! You've kept us waiting long enough. We should talk." I shouted up to him.
In reply the knight pulled back on his horses reigns, rearing his steed up on its back legs. I thought maybe I heard a whimper beside me. It was fair enough, the Wight Knight cut an impressive figure back-lit by the full moon, his tattered and soiled white cape still managing to billow out from behind him dramatically enough. But it was when he led his horse down the cliff face nearly vertically, the heavily armored beast showing no signs of trouble in doing so, deftly leaping down from above and coming to face me only a dozen feet away, that I felt a pit of worry begin to form in my gut. Something was not right.
"Who are you? I have no business with you. Where is the Princess?" the man asked, his unnervingly deep voice echoing oddly beneath his helmet.
As I thought of the best way to answer, he turned his side to me and in his gauntlet-clad hand an orb of darkness began to form. As he clenched his fist around it, the darkness pooled out between his fingers and stretched into the form of a lance. It quickly solidified beneath his touch and gleamed like metal in the moonlight. He pointed its tip in my direction, and it was a wicked looking thing. Suddenly every smart response I had left me in a rush of adrenaline.
"Release the princess!" he shouted, the louder he was the more distorted his voice became. "Release my beautiful princess!" he screamed, his helmet flipping up as he lunged towards us. Beneath it was nothing but bone and gleaming pits of crimson where his eyes were meant to be.
My chest constricted at the sight of him, and I barely dodged the tip of his lance as he madly raced past us. "Riordan!" I screamed, a thread of panic choking my voice as I did. "Leave. Get out of here now!" I demanded. Whatever this man was, it went far beyond the scope of what I had in mind when I took the boy with me. It would be the second time, the second time I brought someone in my care and it all went horribly wrong in ways I couldn't have imagined. I wouldn't let that happen again. It would be like failing Gallus once more. Had I really learned nothing since the attack on the Observatory?
Riordan's face looked frightened and pale under the stars burning above us, but his body still moved under his full control. Unsheathing his knife, he shook his head at me, his mouth set in a hard line. "I won't flee." he replied rather simply, as his posture moved fluidly from tense shock to a half-crouched stance.
I swallowed down my own fears, reminding myself this wasn't my book-worm little brother, and unsheathed my rapier. When things are frightened, whether they be people or monsters, they can either flee, freeze, or fight. And despite the abomination before us, Riordan chose to bear his fangs, so I would do the same and see him through it. It was my duty.
I strode over to his side proudly. "I'll take point and do my best to keep him engaged. You're light on your feet and we've got the room so feel free to circle around and find any openings you can get to." I instructed, keeping my eyes forward, my voice calm. "Make use of the space, just don't take any chances. We're too far from the city for any heroics, got it?"
"Got it." he replied, firm and sure.
With another other-worldy echoing neigh from his steed, the Wight Knight lifted his lance up high and the sky split above him, calling lightning to his weapon with a loud crash, white hot energy creeping up and down it a moment later. I sprinted forward and met him mid lunge, going right, both of our blades edges digging into one another; his into my shoulder, and mine slipping between the plates of metal covering his knee. I hissed at the pain and the tingling sensation it sent coursing up and down my arm, but it hurt less than I had expected, the wound far less deep than it should have been. And though I was sure I had struck true, there was no blood on my blade, and I felt no resistance of flesh as I attacked. My stomach felt as though someone had flipped it all around in my guts as my mind reeled. If he truly was all skeletal through and through, how could we win like this?
Riordan was able to quickly cut at the side of the knights steed and reclaim some distance from him while the Wight Knight hoisted his lance back into position. He had speed, defense, and by all rights should have been stronger than either of us, but he had poor maneuverability in comparison. In the time it took him to reposition himself for another round, I had already dug deep into the well of magic in my chest and called upon the power of ice. The words of the spell ingrained within my spirit slipped out past my lips with a breath of frost, and a large shard of sharpened ice fell upon the knight, battering his and his steeds armor, tossing them violently to the side.
It didn't slow them down. With a leap more dexterous than any horse should have managed, he closed the distance and thrust his lance at the pair of us in a flurry of blows. I held fast and deflected as many as I could, and from my peripheral I saw Riordan reel back in attempt to avoid them all together. But it was overwhelming, the sheer speed of his attack left me cut and bleeding all over. Shallow and stinging, I felt a sudden rush of empathy for the monsters Riordan had perforated earlier.
Still, I had the overwhelming sensation that something was wrong, something was being over looked. I hesitated to attack. Riordan didn't, and lashed out at the man with his short blade as he ran past, small drops of blood following as he went. But I wondered, with the unnatural amount of speed and prowess the knight commands with his spear, there's no reason the two of us should still be standing after an onslaught like that. Why was he so obviously holding back?
Something akin to surprise fell over the Wight Knights body language as Riordan attacked him in return. It was if he wasn't expecting us to keep trying after his last display of skill. He reared his lance back once more.
I lunged forward and planted the tip of my rapier into the small space between the plates in his legs armor as Riordan spun around the other side, slicing his steeds open flank, and rolling into a dodge as the knights lance came down in his direction, again and again attempting to make a pincushion of the boy. He came back up onto his feet with a wide grin, blood trickling down from his scalp and otherwise unharmed.
"Change of roles, Alta!" he shouted to me as the knight spun to chase after him, calling lighting to his spear once more.
A smile tugged at my lips as I scraped at the dredges of what was left of my mana and called upon the ice one last time. The Wight Knight tagged Riordan with his crackling spear, and the boy immediately dropped. There was a moment of deafening fear and confusion that left my heartbeat thundering in my ears until I realized it was a feint, an over-reaction on his part. As he fell to the ground, he thrust his knife upward into the horse as they rode past his body, eliciting a pained whinny from the creature.
I wouldn't let them get far though. I loosened my spell upon them, hitting the pair from the side, knocking the man off his horse entirely. As the tall and imposing knight staggered back to his feet, Riordan coiled into himself tightly and sprung up, knife extended, and pierced the knight where his neck should have been. I knew there was no flesh there, no mortal body to harm, but all the same, the man and his steed stopped and collapsed forward, the expense of energy obviously wearing them out. It seemed even beings held together by magic had their limits.
Dawn began to break across the horizon as I raced over to them, my mind heavy with questions. Stella appeared by my side, hands excitedly clenched into fists in front of her chest, a wide grin on her face. Riordan simply crossed his arms, a surly expression on his face magnified by the quickly drying blood running along it as he looked down at the man crumpled before him.
"I don't understand. Why would the princess send you in her place? Why has my beloved Mona forsaken me? Does our promise no longer mean anything to her?" the knight asked, his skeletal jaw moving, his voice echoing oddly outward from his body.
Stella and Riordan both replied with the same thought at the same time.
"Who's Mona-" "-the princess' name is Simona." they said.
The boy jabbed his finger angrily towards the knight, his face beet red. "And don't you dare speak about her with such, such. . . such familiarity!" he demanded. "No one gives my princess a nickname!" he grumbled.
"No one in the castle ever called the princess 'Mona' anyway, this knights got a nail loose, if you ask me." Stella thoughtfully added.
The Wight Knight looked back and forth between them. "Is, is that really true? No one refers to her by this name?" he asked, his red glowing pin pricks of light stopping on Stella.
She shrieked in reply. "How come you can see me!?" she cried, bolting behind my shoulder. "Y-you gave me a right flapping shock there! Altairis, you explain it!" Stella popped back into my head, leaving both the knight and Riordan looking incredibly bewildered.
"Wha. . . what is he looking at?" the boy asked, turning to the knight. "Who are you even talking to?"
The Wight Knight flipped his helmet back down to cover his intimidating visage, and knelt before me. "Please, I implore you my lady, tell me. Is this girl in the castle really not Princess Mona?" he asked.
Riordan stepped between us. "Watch it pal. This ain't your lady. And neither is the Princess Simona." he clarified.
I pat Riordan atop his head in assurance and stepped toward the knight. "We do not know her by that name, no. Is there some sort of misunderstanding going on? You obviously weren't trying to hurt us too badly back there either, so I think talking would be a good course of action right about now." I insisted. "It would be best that you explain yourself a little."
The knights head hung low. "So that's why she wasn't wearing the royal necklace of Brigadoom. . ." he muttered as he rose up and turned away from us, facing the lake.
The sun broke across the water, bathing everything around us in a soft light, as if the Almighty himself were cupping a candle flame in His hands. With it, the knights lance vanished from his grip and he began to speak, slowly and unsure. ". . .I was in a very deep sleep. . . for how long I can not recall. Then the earthquake happened, and I woke up in this strange land feeling as if I had been released from some kind of. . . prison. I'd completely lost my memory, so much so that I didn't even remember who I was anymore. Then I saw that princess and it brought it all back to me. Memories of Mona and I. . ." he said, turning around to face me. "I remembered that I am the Wight Knight. And I remembered that Mona is the princess of my homeland Brigadoom. Princess Mona and I had sworn undying love for each other and were to be wed." he explained, his hollow voice tinged with anguish.
"Undying, huh?" I said, contemplating the implications of his story, and how it must relate to his appearance now.
Riordan sneered. "Pffft, sure, the old 'amnesia' defense, whatever. Either way, you still stormed into the castle and scared all the townsfolk! You've really pissed off the king and worst of all you've frightened the princess!" he yelled.
"I don't know that's worst of all. . ." I muttered.
The Wight Knight hung his head. "I cannot deny my actions. I must do the honourable thing. I must return to that castle and apologize for my mistake." he said solemnly.
"Uhhhh. . ." Riordan and I both turned to each other and shared a look of mutual concern.
"I don't think that's a very good idea." I said, remembering the king furiously pounding his gnarled fist into the cushioned arm of his throne at the very mention of the knight. "That would only end badly, I believe." I told him.
"Yeah, and frankly I don't trust anything about you so how about you stay away from where Simona is and go back to this Brigadoom place of yours." Riordan added.
The Wight Knight hesitated, then relented, nodding and returned to his horses side, easing it back to its feet. "Yes, I'm sure the real Princess Mona will be waiting for me back in Brigadoom. Ah, but could you deliver a message on my behalf?" he asked. "Could you tell the king and his daughter I promise to never return there?"
I happily agreed.
The knight seemed relieved. "Thank you, thank you both. All I have to do now is find my way home. . ." he said as he walked away from us and into the forest with is steed.
As soon as the pair of them were out of sight Riordan dropped to his knees, shaking. "Oh god Almighty. Oh Goddess." he muttered, breathless and panicked.
I raced to him and cupped the sides of his face gently in my hands, lifting it to mine. "Hey. Calm down. We're alright, and the princess is alright. It's all okay. You did really well." I assured him, smudging a few drops of blood against his cold cheeks.
He swallowed hard and placed his icy, slender hands over mine and inhaled deeply and slowly a few times. "Yes. Yes, I'm. . . I'm alive." he said, as if to reassure himself. "But was he?"
I released him and fell back onto my butt, stretching my legs out in front of me, exhaustion rolling across my tired and sore body. "Sure." I replied. "You saw him moving and talking and having thoughts and feelings, didn't you?" I asked.
"But, but you saw him! He's just a skeleton!" he sputtered.
"Yes, so his body isn't alive, but he still is. And I would love to know why. . ." I said, mulling over what I knew of the undead.
Riordan frowned. "Do you think he was being honest about leaving Stornway alone?" he asked.
"I think so. If we go by what he said before attacking us, he thought Princess Simona was his fiance being held prisoner by another kingdom. He won't attack the castle again knowing she's someone else." I assured him. "Besides, hardly anyone in Stornway was harmed when he broke in before, and he tried to paper-cut us into submission rather than kill us. I don't think he's much of a threat, really." I said.
Riordan sighed and fell onto his back, stretching his limbs out long and wide in the dewy morning grass. "Ah, thank goodness for that I guess. So glad we won't be seeing him again." he said.
I sat silently, contemplating that. "I'm. . . not so sure. " I finally admitted.
"What." he replied.
"I don't think we'll fight again, there wouldn't be much point, he can't even die anyway. I just have a feeling this isn't finished." I explained.
Riordan sat up in a huff. "We're going back to Stornway to report back to the king, the Wight Knight isn't coming back to Stornway ever, and you just said he's no threat, so how do you figure this 'isn't finished'?" he demanded.
"Because the king wanted a body." I said as plainly as I could. "He's even more distrusting about this than you are. But we can't kill this guy and I doubt his word is going to hold any weight with his majesty. What do you think he'll want us to do then?" I asked.
Riordan sat for a moment before replying slowly. ". . .he'll want us to take him out somehow. . ."
I nodded affirmatively. "Right, he's going to need tangible proof this undead knight isn't going to be a problem again, ever." I said.
The boy fidgeted with some grass in front of him. "I know I tried stabbing him in the neck and all, but I don't really like the idea of killing the guy. . ." he replied sheepishly.
I smiled, he was still a kid, after all.
"Killing is what the king will want, but reality will be more along the lines of giving the knight rest. Like I said before, his body already stopped living, and things don't keep existing like that unless there's something very powerful binding them, something within themselves or even an outside force. Either way, I have a feeling when he gets home, he'll be ready to move on anyway." I explained.
Riordan frowned. "What makes you think that?"
I stood up and brushed the dirt off my leggings, inwardly cringing at all the little bloodstains that would need to be cleaned. "Because he fell asleep and woke up as bones. I think he's been down for the count a lot longer than he imagines, I doubt he even realizes what he is. When he finds his home and sees that it's not the same and the people there are all strangers, that his love he's searching for is no more, everything will begin to dawn on him and it will be time." I said, hoisting the boy to his feet.
Riordan looked miserable. "It would be pretty awful to say I hope you're right, wouldn't it?" he asked softly.
I ruffled his hair affectionately until he shot me an annoyed glare, in about a half-second. "No," I replied, "we all must come to face with the bitter realities of our lives eventually." I said, looking up to the sky and thought of the Observatory, and what I might see there when Stella and I finally got the Starflight Express working again. "It's the only way we move forward."
Riordan's eyes looked off into nothingness. ". . .Yes, I think you're probably right about that. . ."
"Hey." I said, nudging him. "Let's go home. The king can wait until we've had a nap, a bath and a meal I think."
Riordan's smile re-ignited the youthful life in his face, bloodstains be damned. "Yeah, I think we've earned at least that much!" he replied, bolting down the path ahead of me. "But we eat first, bathe later!" he hollered.
Digging up the few scraps of energy I had left, I chased after him through the forest path as we made our way back to Stornway, to Erinn, to Lanugo, to a warm bed and a good meal. I wasn't sure I could ever earn something as precious as the comfort of good company or mortal hospitality, but I was grateful to have it all the same. And I prayed silently to myself, that I wasn't like the Wight Knight, hopeful for a happy return that could never be.