The Teenager

The staff blow again knocked the teenager off his feet. The three men around him circled dangerously. They all held what seemed to be wooden staffs, but in fact were hardened with a core of metal. It was a very deceptive weapon, and one that had earned the Order its reputation of keepers of the peace. They were able to blend in to almost any situation, invisible in the background, but always watching, prepared to step in at a moments notice. The teenagers had spent the last twelve years of his life learning all about the lore of the Order of the Phoenix. He had matured greatly in those years. He had come to the Order as a lonely child, scared and orphaned. Many people had become interested in his progress, as never before had the Order taken in a child so young, it had always been the case that one would come when they had come of age, as a result of a family tragedy, or as a test to prove their love to a girl. The training would last a number of months, and then they would leave as an ordained knight. They would be taught basic military training: a mix of unarmed martial combat and gunplay with all manner of weapons, shotguns, rifles as well as pistols. Also, they would be taught the understanding of the Order, its traditions and philosophy. Throughout his life, the man could be called upon to perform a variety of tasks, as payment for the teachings the knighthood had given him. The boy, however, has been taught much more than that. Every one of the Orders masters had at some time tutored the boy. He had grown strong beyond his years, and he could now defeat his masters in almost all disciplines of the order. His marksmanship was unparalleled for miles around, and people from the nearby towns and villages would come to marvel at his speed and strength in combat. The chapter master himself, weary from his pilgrimage to New Washington to try and forge a peace there, had come to view the legendary child. Three of the masters of the staff were facing the boy, each a champion in there time, and never before been beaten. Even the teenagers, now well over 6 foot and an imposing figure to any who tried to face him, was having trouble defeating them.

He ducked under another swipe aimed at his head, and simultaneously flipped to avoid the swipe at his shin; he landed with his staff by his side, narrowly blocking the swing at his mid-section that would have collapsed his rib cage. The he went on the offensive. The first master, Orion, who had attacked his shin, was caught off guard by the teenager using his staff to pole vault himself into the master's face. His feet struck the man in the face with such velocity that he was thrown to the floor. He tried to stir, but he felt the staff, having been swung in a loop around the side of the boy, come to rest just below where his hairline finished the blow would have cracked his spine, and so he was out of the fight. The teenager, however, was not. He flipped over Orion's head as he landed in with a sweeping bow, bending his legs and back at the same time, bringing him very close to the floor. The other two masters, Godfrey and Jericho, has both thought of doing the same move, bringing their staffs over their head in a sweeping arc, they had brought their staffs crashing to the floor, half a second after the teenager had jumped over Orion. This feat of skill had brought a gasp from all watching, but the next move left them in awe. The teenager back flipped with such ferocity that he cleared the other two masters, and delivered a sharp crack to the temples of each of them. They both collapsed in a heap on the floor, and the teenager landed with perfect grace, delivering a bow to the chapter master, who began to applaud. The chapter master whispered in the ear of one of his aides.

"What does this boy call himself?"

"He has never spoken of his name sir; his tutors think it is down to the shock and stress he underwent before he came hear. He only answers to Knight, though his ears prick whenever anyone mentions the name Mark to him, perhaps that has some significance."

"Thank you, can you ask him to please come and see me in my chambers."

"Yes sir, right away."

The teenager dignifiedly helped his masters up. Orion ruffled his hair and smiled, as a father would smile, whilst the other two were two dazed to do anything except mutter their admiration and make their leave.

"You did well today young Knight, rest now, there will be no more lessons today."

A small man, wrapped in the white robes of the Order came scurrying over to the pair.

"Chapter Master Goldwin wishes to see you young Knight."

"Thank you."

The teenagers said and proceeded down the long corridor that led from the training area to the heart of the complex, and the offices of the Chapter master. The corridors were al in-keeping with the philosophy of the Order. They were all clean, and practical. Straight lines with intersections, and the walls were a brilliant white, with electric lighting at intervals to keep the corridors eternally blessed with a cool, pale, radiance. He felt the ventilation network at work, an almost imperceptible purring sound in the background of his ears, he had become so accustomed to that sound that it frequently faded out of his perception entirely, and now he had to really concentrate to hear it again. The teenager found himself stood in front of the awesome wooden doors, painted the same white as the rest of the complex. They were made from a tree called mahogany, and he had been told that even before the war, mahogany was considered a very precious wood. His hand hesitantly tapped the wood of the door. He waited for many minutes in silence, and then he apprehensively knocked again, this time a little louder. He waited for several seconds before he heard the courageous, booming voice of the chapter master.

"Enter"

He made his way into the room, and saw that it was clean and practical. The chapter master's desk was made of the same material as the door, and his chair was very stately, but modest at the same time.

"It is good to see you young Knight, please rest after that impressive endeavour in the sparring room."

"Thank you sir."

"I have been told a great many things about you, you know? Your tutors speak very highly of you. I have been told your potential is great, and I can see from today's performance that they were not exaggerating when they said this. You are not yet fully ordained are you?"

"No sir, a true knight has to do a great deed before he can be considered for knighthood. I have not yet finished my training, and so have not been deemed ready to undertake such a task"

"Very good young Knight, your mental aptitude equals your physical prowess. Now, I think, and your tutors share in this view, that you are ready to undertake such a taste."

The teenager's eyes beamed in the pale light, and the chapter master knew that the boy would be eager to prove himself in this task.

"There have been reports of two villages about to go to war with one another. We need to send someone over there to sort the mess out. Usually we would send a diplomatic team to the area, however, we see this as a fitting way to task your skills, both with the sword, and with the tongue."

"And with the rifle if need be sir?"

"We do not want to resort to bloodshed; however, we cannot allow such battles taking place in these desperate times. Violence only begets more violence, however, if the death of a few means saving the lives of the many, then there is no choice at all. Am I understood Mark?"

"My name is not Mark chapter master, and yes, I understand you perfectly. Thank you, when should I be ready for?"

"I assume your skills on a horse are as sufficient as your skills in other areas?" the chapter master did not wait for the boys reply, he had heard those stories as well, "one of the stable boys will present you with a mount as soon as you are ready. I will see you when you return victorious young Knight."

"I will not fail you sir"

The teenager, eager to prove himself, rapped to attention, with his fist over his heart, and left the room. He almost ran to the armoury and burst through the doors to get his equipment.

"Slow down kid, you'll do yourself an injury."

The charming young armourer looked the large teenager up and down.

"Word has already arrived, take what you need."

The teenager's eyes flashed over the armoury in wonder. There were rows and rows of assault rifles, pistols and shotguns, as well as various other, more exotic weaponry. The pride of the Knighthood, a sword that was capable of cutting through steel as if it were butter, hung from a wall in the corner. It had only ever been carried into battle once, by the chapter master himself, and he had personally slain many foes with it. Ever since that day, it had been held in complete reverence by every knight in the Order. Also, there were a number of rows of the Depew, the staffs that the Knights always carried as their signature weapons. He eagerly went along the walls, first picking up a whole suit of under armour, and took them into the changing room. He emerged in a skin tight black body stocking, that encompassed his whole body, and gave extra protection to his knees and elbows, as well as a layer of protection around his neck, as the knights rarely used helmets, and so had a small metal collar around their neck to stop someone from slicing it open with a sword or other instrument. It was a flawed design, as the teenager had pointed out many times, as it would not stop anything swung harder than a sword. Many of the tribesman used axes, and in close combat, if they got the chance to use it, it sliced right through the protection.

Next he searched for a suit of combat armour in his size. It was supposed to be lightweight, worn underneath the robes, to stop small knife attacks, as well as try and lessen the impact of bullets. It was made from a mixture of leather from the hides of animals, and a polymer that the knights made, which was very strong when hit, but at the same time flexible, which made for a versatile suit of armour. On top of that went a metal plate in the chest area, to stop the brunt force of rounds and pellets. It was very bulky, but the teenager admired it for the protection it offered, and so always travelled in it.

Lastly, the teenager donned the customary robes of the order, they gave the deception that the person was merely a big man, instead of a heavily armoured warrior. The robes also concealed the many holsters that the knight used to hold his weapons.

The first weapon that the teenager always took with him whenever he left the base was a colt 45. pistol. He was told it was ancient, and been modified many times. It used old fashioned ammo, well out-of-date nowadays, that relied on heavy impact force, rather than any sort of uranium core, to pierce armour. The technology to reproduce the ammunition was well extinct; however, the knights had found a whole warehouse full of the stuff when they did their initial explorations of the area, decades ago. The ammo was not in short supply, and so the teenager took 4 clips of bullets, just to make sure. One of the weapons that the knights had created was called a retribution rifle. It was made of the same polymer that the armour was made from, and was capable of firing rounds off either automatically or semi automatically at a range of over 100 metres. The clips held 50 rounds each, and they fired off around 600 rounds per minute, although proper tests ad never been done.

The rifle fit snugly beneath the knight's underarm, with the stock against his shoulder, so that all he had to do was bring it to bear and it was already in a firing position. The knight then moved on to close combat weaponry, He preferred the subtle simplicity of the knife, and so always took one at his side, and one up his sleeve. This gave him many tactical options in combat, and he could hide it if he was caught. The last thing he took was the traditional staff, and badge of office, of the knights, the Depew.

He looked down at himself, and thought he was finally ready. With one last wistful look in the armoury, he turned and left, for the last time. He then made his way up to the stables, and took a horse handed to him; it was a sleek warhorse, it looked like something out of the entertainment vids that the knights had from the vault. He mounted the horse and rode out into the sunset which greeted him. He turned back to look at the complex that had taught him so much. He thought it was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen the guard just now changing for the night-shift, their white robes flowing in the wind. With a sigh, he turned back and rode onto into the night.