Episode 3: Part 2
The following morning, Noelle Moreau passed through the busy dormitory lobby and headed out a side door to one of the building's quiet courtyards lined with some shady hedges and flowers. Since she had become a knightly protector of Somerset Valley, the irony was not lost upon her in the way that the layout of the old rustic dormitory resembled a bit of a small castle. In the corner of the brick lined courtyard was a small stone birdbath and a bench for students to relax on. There she found Laura quietly reading a book for her History class. On the cover of the book, she could make out the author's name in bold print: Dr. Gabriel Bishop.
As some birds chirped from the rooftops of the courtyard, Noelle stopped in front of Laura and waited quietly for the Winter Knight to look up. Instead, Laura flipped a page and continued to look unperturbed while she kept reading. Finally, Nolle put her hands on her hips and sighed in mild annoyance, "You're being crazy and unreasonable, do you know that?"
Laura calmly closed her book and set it down before looking up at the Autumn Knight.
"If you're trying to talk me out of fighting that duel, then you're wasting your time. There's pride at stake and no one, especially not a Gremory backs down from a challenge. After all, I am doing this for the good of the whole group."
Noelle shook her head, "Huh? What are you talking about?"
Laura folded her hands primly, "Simple. I will not blindly follow and take direction from a person like Connor, especially if there's some perceived notion that the Summer Court might have some kind of authority over others. He's too forward and reckless and in my mind, doesn't have the proper qualities to lead."
"And you do?" Noelle asked skeptically.
The Winter Knight smiled and rose from the bench before walking over to put an arm around her classmate, "I am the one thinking of others here. I'm doing it for us girls because we have to stick together."
Noelle gave another puzzled look as Laura decided to take another approach at persuasion, "Think about it. You're not just going to let the boys lead and tell you what to do just because they're men, right?"
"I… well, no… but, that's not even a relevant issue here. This is just you and Connor being stubborn."
Seeing that her comrade was not as gullible as she looked, Laura gave a dismissive sigh and headed out of the courtyard, "My dear Noelle, think whatever you like. I'm sure when it comes time for the duel I'll be able to count on your support."
As the English girl departed, the Autumn Knight was left standing by herself in the courtyard before scratching her head again in confusion, "What?"
Bright rays of sunlight lit up the secluded field as Kristen and the four knights gathered to conduct the duel later that day. Connor and Laura stood facing each other at opposite ends of the field locked in a silent icy glare. Between then, Kristen stood clear holding her Druid staff along with Quinton and Noelle beside her.
"You didn't have any luck either, huh?" Quinton asked the Autumn Knight while he checked his wristwatch.
Noelle gave a discouraged sigh and shook her head, "No. I'm afraid our friends are complete idiots."
Kristen raised her staff and signaled the two combatants forward to about twenty five feet of each other. The Summer and Winter Knights called their armor and drew their swords before taking a ready stance.
"Okay you two. Remember, the round ends when a touch is scored. Three touches with the blade, or forcing your opponent to submit are the conditions for a win. Is that understood?"
Both nodded and Kristen stepped away again, "Good. Keep it clean and try to remember we're all on the same side here, okay?"
Laura gave a fencer's salute with her rapier and sniffed, "A commoner ought to know his place. I hope you'll like being my manservant when we're done with this."
Connor growled and leveled his own sword, "Bring it on ice queen."
The two knights charged forward and locked blades in a powerful opening blow. As a shower of sparks flew, Connor pressed his attack and let loose a furious storm of thrusts and slashes. Just as he maneuvered into position, he thrust his sword to try and strike Laura but the Winter Knight was too agile and quick for him. She easily sidestepped the blow and parried the attack, leaving Connor defenseless. With a backhanded flick of the wrist, Laura sent the Summer Knight spinning to the ground, scoring the first sword blow.
Quinton and Noelle cringed as Connor picked himself up off the ground and shook off the blow, readying himself for round two. Once Kristen gave the signal, both combatants clashed again and the meadow was filled with the sounds of ringing steel. As they exchanged blows, Connor growled while Laura seemed to nimbly dance around his guard as if she were taunting him. Again, she goaded him to over-commit his attack, leaving him off balance.
The Summer Knight gasped as Laura suddenly went on the offensive and blindsided him with a flurry of lighting fast sword thrusts. He barely raised his guard in time to block, but one strike got through and the sheer force of the attack sent him flying backwards in the resulting cloud of elemental ice.
Quinton rushed over to help his stunned roommate as Connor slowly picked himself up off the ground again. "Holy crap Connor! Are you alright? Maybe you should just throw in the towel."
Connor staggered to his feet and cleared the stars from his eyes before gently pushing his friend aside, "No... I'm not just going to roll over and give up."
Laura sniffed and idly twirled her rapier, "You might want to listen to Quinton and save yourself any further humiliation. You're already down 2 nil."
Connor took a deep steadying breath and readied his stance before giving a nod to Kristen. The Druid eyed him for a long moment with uncertainty before nodding and signaling the duel to resume.
The Summer Knight watched his opponent confidently advance, closing in for a kill. As he did, Connor shifted into a defensive stance and waited this time. Laura had fooled him twice, but this time he was going to use her own pride and overconfidence against her. He wasn't going to beat her with speed and agility so he had to adapt.
The Winter Knight snorted in contempt and darted in, driving her rapier forward to strike but Connor shifted his guard to deflect the thrust. As Connor ran his blade down the edge of Laura's weapon, she gasped in surprise from a small shockwave of fire and ice that erupted from the prolonged contact of their blades.
The Winter Knight scrambled to try and recover her footing and lashed out with a backhanded strike to try and clip her enemy. Connor pressed his attack and knocked aside the rapier again, before dropping his shoulder and ramming it into his enemy. While it didn't count as a weapon touch, it surprised Laura and the girl winced in pain as she stumbled to her knees from the armored shoulder-check.
Having been completely caught off guard, Laura panicked and took a wild swing to try and ward off her foe. Again Connor locked blades with her and forcefully parried the rapier, but this time he disarmed her. As the rapier went clattering away, the Summer Knight followed through with the high circular motion of the parry and brought down a blow toward Laura's head. The unarmed Winter Knight gasped in fear as Connor stopped just short of striking her in the forehead, holding his red hot blade just inches from her visor.
Both fighters stood silent and motionless, locked in the position and unsure of what to do now. Connor didn't want to seriously injure his ally and Laura didn't want to admit total defeat, even though she had been caught dead to rights. The duel was immediately interrupted as Kristen pounded her staff into the ground and held up her phone.
"Heads up everyone. I just got a message from the Juniper Order elders. Looks like there's another Fomorian attack starting up across town."
Connor took a deep breath and lowered his sword. To Laura's surprise, he offered a hand and helped her to her feet. "Come on. We've got more important things to worry about today."
Kristen crossed her arms and watched curiously as the four students exchanged a look, then ran off together to confront their newest adversary. Maybe there was still some hope for a semblance of "team" after all. The coming battle would just have to be another trial by fire.
On the edges of Somerset Valley, a small clamor began to arise from the forested campgrounds just north of the town proper. Several townspeople and college students who had gone to try and get in a few more days of camping before winter scrambled from their tents and trailers as a Fomorian monster stalked through the grounds. The kobold chieftain had emerged from some of the northern caves and began his advance toward the small city with a small company of his spriggan escorts.
The dark faerie foot soldiers growled and chattered as they followed their lizard-like Fomorian leader in destroying the campsites and looting them of valuables. As the spriggans knocked over another large tent and set it on fire, they stopped when they spotted four figures emerge from the smoky haze. The four Hibernian Knights rushed onto the campground after a frantic drive north and they stopped to confront the new threat before them.
"I guess you Fomorians weren't listening the first time," Connor called out to the monsters, "You'd better just walk away now unless you want to end up like your old friend, goat-face."
Ogran snorted in derision, "Goraak was a pathetic warrior and a weaker fool. He couldn't even stand his ground in single combat. That is why Lord Balor sent me to finish what he couldn't."
With that, the monster lashed out with the falchion he was carrying and sliced a nearby tent in half just to make his point.
Noelle narrowed her eyes and readied herself mentally, "All right guys… he doesn't look so tough… whatever he is."
"Lizardman? Goblin King? We don't know what tricks he may have up his sleeve," Quinton pointed out.
"Whoever he is, he's going to be taught a lesson," Laura said assertively while stepping forward and brandishing her ring, "Athru!"
The other knights followed suit and morphed into their own enchanted armor to do battle with the invaders. As they drew their blades and charged forward, Ogran waved his own spriggan troops forward to intercept them. Moments later, the evacuated campground was filled with the ringing sounds of steel from the fierce melee that erupted.
At the forefront of the battle line, both Connor and Laura found themselves neck deep in enemy foot soldiers but their spirited push had opened up a line of attack for their other two comrades. Quinton immediately recognized this and charged forward against Ogran with his short sword and sickle, "Now's our chance! Come on Noelle!"
Noelle hesitantly followed to attack the Fomorian while Connor and Laura fended off the minions. As the Spring Knight charged forward alone, Kobold smirked, "Perfect. Just like that..."
Quinton charged his weapons with elemental thunder and lashed them out to unleash a surging strike on the monster. Ogran raised his large falchion and caught the thunder with the blade before pitching it aside.
"You were foolish to attack me alone Knight," the Fomorian laughed as he swept his blade out with incredible strength. Quinton gasped as he raised his guard and blocked the strike, but the force of the blow was so strong it knocked him off his feet and sent him flying away.
"Quinton!" Noelle gasped in shock as she continued to sprint forward while narrowly avoiding a collision with her friend. Just as Ogran wound up for another blow, the Autumn Knight called upon the autumn winds to lift her into the air for a surprise leaping attack.
Ogran missed with his blade and gave an irritated growl as she attempted to strike from above. "That wasn't much smarter, girlie."
He raised his forearm and deflected the strike, but Noelle's blade still clipped his unguarded arm and wounded him. In a fit of anger, the kobold lashed out with his other arm and backhanded the Autumn Knight aside. "Can't you see? No one can challenge me in single combat!"
While the last of the spriggans were slashed aside in a cloud of fire from Connor, Laura turned her attention to the Fomorian and their two stunned comrades. "This does not look good. We've got to do something!"
The Summer Knight turned to join her and gave a grim nod, "All right… have you got any good suggestions?"
Laura gripped her rapier and thought furiously for a solution until the words of the monster rung a bell. "The Fomorian said he's an expert in single combat… why don't we try double teaming him instead?"
Connor thought it over for a moment and smiled slowly, "Okay. Sounds good... and I think we can pull it off too. I'll lead the charge, but I'll need you to back me up on this."
"I… wait a second… are you sure?"
Connor gripped his sword and drew the attention of the monster, "I trust you Laura. Now let's go!"
Ogran roared and readied himself as Connor charged forward through the autumn leaves with his fiery blade in a low guard. Close behind him, Laura held her sword in a high guard and swiftly followed. Heartbeats later, the Fomorian and Summer Knight clashed and locked blades. While Connor staggered from the force of the impact, he parried the strike aside just wide enough for Laura to sweep in and strike with her own blade.
Ogran roared as a cloud of ice erupted over him and began to slow his movements which allowed Connor a chance to recover his own stance. Each swing of the Fomorian grew less powerful from the debilitating icy magic of the Winter Knight while Connor blocked the strikes with his heavier blade. During each exchange, Laura would maneuver about and hit the monster with devastating flank attacks, further hamstringing the monster.
"No… you cheated," Ogran sputtered as he reeled backward and dropped his weapon.
Both the Summer and Winter Knights turned their blades and delivered a synchronized finishing slash which instantly obliterated the dark warrior in a cloud of steam from the clashing elements.
As they recovered their stances and sheathed their weapons, both Connor and Laura turned to each other and gave a nod, silently acknowledging each others contribution. By then, both Quinton and Noelle had recovered to their feet and hurried over while the others powered down.
"Hey... are you two okay?" Connor asked in concern as Noelle removed her helmet and gave a bright smile.
"We're fine... but, I just wanted to say wow! That was an awesome double team attack you guys just pulled off right there."
"Oh... uh, thanks... but the whole strategy was actually kinda Laura's idea," Connor laughed in relief.
Everyone turned to the Winter Knight and her face grew uncharacteristically red at the sudden attention of the others. She took a calming breath and cleared her throat, trying to recover her composure before walking away from everyone.
"It was nothing... really. Now if you'll excuse me... I uh, I'll see you all tomorrow... maybe."
As she departed the campgrounds, Quinton watched her leave and crossed his arms with a small smile... "Well what do you know? Maybe she isn't so bad after all, huh?"
The Summer Knight frowned to himself and looked to his departing comrade, "Yeah... I wonder."
The next afternoon, Connor took a walk over toward the campus gym and rec fields just as early evening had begun to set in. Sure enough, he found Laura on the tennis courts... except this time, she was by herself and practicing against a tennis ball machine. As he neared, he watched as she smashed back every single ball that was pitched her way. When she did, it was with an unusual amount of force and aggression, and he couldn't help but wonder if she was blowing off some personal steam.
Eventually, the machine ran out of balls and the exhausted Winter Knight walked over to the sidelines of the court to sit down and rest on a bench. To her surprise, she saw Connor already waiting on the bench while holding out a water bottle… almost like a peace offering.
"Hey... I uh, thought you might be thirsty," he said tentatively.
The younger knight skeptically eyed the bottle for a moment before taking it and sitting down beside him. After she took a deep swig of water, she frowned slightly at the bottle. "I'll be honest. I wasn't expecting to see you this afternoon."
Connor shrugged, "Yeah... Quinton told me you'd probably be here so I figured we should probably talk about our little duel."
"There's nothing to talk about," she sighed wiping her neck with a towel, "I was thinking about it for a long time... and you beat me yesterday, fair and square."
"No. I probably just got lucky. You were the better swordfighter and you were winning on points too."
Laura looked to him in surprise before wrinkling her features, "So, what do we do? The team is still going to need leadership and direction. Quinton and Noelle seem to listen to you more anyway."
"Maybe... but being skilled and cool-headed are also important leadership traits," Connor added. "That's why I think we should both lead the charge. We did make a pretty good team against that monster yesterday, don't you think?"
"Yes… I suppose we did," Laura sighed as they both stood up from the bench.
As another cool autumn breeze rustled the leaves of the trees nearby, Connor cleared his throat and extended his hand, "Listen Laura, I was thinking about what Kristen had said. You and I don't necessarily have to like each other or even agree about everything, but we're still on the same side. At the very least, I think we should try to be friends from this point forward."
Laura looked to his proffered hand and gave a faint smile as she finally returned the handshake she had denied him when they first met in Kristen's shop, "I believe that's the most sensible thing you've said all week Connor. All right... if only for Noelle and Quinton's sake. Compared to you, those two are far more tolerable."
Connor couldn't help but give a gentle laugh at her admission toward the others before she gestured toward home, "Shall we head back to the dormitory and grab some dinner?"
"Only of you're paying," Connor joked with a wink before she gave a huff and leveled her tennis racket at him threateningly. He began to laugh again as she turned away and started to walk back towards home. While she walked, she still kept her head turned away... but despite her best efforts, the Winter Knight couldn't help but let a small amused smile of her own slowly begin to form at the corner of her lips. It was an unusual look for her, but it was one that she was sure would become much more common the longer she stayed at this new school.
A/N:
Now that the inter-team conflicts have been settled at the moment, it's time for some character spotlights. Coming up next, Halloween is fast approaching in Somerset Valley, and it's going to be up to our sweet mild mannered Autumn Knight to step up and show her courage against a dark horseman straight out of Celtic folklore. See you all next week!