Knights Apocalyptica

Fifteen minutes after returning to their dorm, all three of them were outfitted in their Armor, with their weapons, and out the doors of the Verdant Oak dorms and back out into nature itself; by this time of day, the sun was high in the bright blue sky, warming up what was otherwise a chill January morning—not too far away, Erec was sure that all of the citizens who’d come up to see the morning’s events were flooding the surface city and looking at everything around.

There was still a superstition among those down there that coming up to the sun was dangerous and could burn and damage your skin, which it did—sometimes. Sunburn, however, wasn’t a life-threatening danger that some believed it to be. It could be, but it typically wasn’t that severe.

They also called it bad luck to go to the surface… The oldest among them was especially firm in believing it brought ill fortune to your family. Even in landless nobility like Erec’s, such myths had been dispelled among the nobility.

Among the common folk, not as much.

Those of the lower caverns tended to take pride and safety in their enormous caverns and wouldn’t trade their sense of security for anything despite the surface being secured. The Rot Behemoth’s assault years back hadn’t helped matters… Neither had the Stag’s attack.

Still, it felt good to bask in the sun. Erec kept his visor down, letting the warm tingle of daylight touching his skin serve as a point of focus as they moved. Initiates milled around, giving them odd looks as they traveled in their Armor—classes weren’t for a couple of hours.

Erec ignored them. Getting odd looks around the Academy had been his standard practically since becoming a Knight, so another judgment or two because they were strolling around in Armor while everyone else wasn’t was hardly his concern.

They left the luxurious grounds of the Academy, striding diligently down the paved trail to the destination in the letter. Despite technically being winter, there was greenery all around and hardy plants resistant to a bit of cold. They stood tall and fought against it, survivors despite all the conditions.

As they walked, Erec’s mind kept turning, and his heart kept picking up the pace as he pictured all of the people who had just entered the walls.

The thrill of it made his heart hammer, and try as he might to focus on the here and now, he kept drifting to the future and picturing himself, Axe in hand, going against the best that the wasteland had to offer. Regardless of all that was happening in the Kingdom, the thrill of battle was what called him.

Garin tried to get his attention a couple of times—walking with Munchy on his shoulder and Fido at his hip as they moved. But Erec's heart wasn't into whatever he and Colin were talking about. No. The vision of the fights to come burned their way into his brain, seared there by the desire to compete and compare himself to others.

They arrived at the location specified in Boldwick’s note.

His mentor was there, along with Dame Robin and Gwen, all of which were in their Armor. They gave Boldwick a quick salute—pounding their fist to their chest.

“Wonderful. So, you understand that today is a special training session, correct?” Boldwick asked after gesturing for them to be at ease.

All of them gave an affirmative, ‘Yes, sir.’ And he smiled—and then cleared his throat.

“Today is a special training session. In fact, I had to pull a couple of strings to allow this. Eventually, the Knights are supposed to mingle with our new guests. But on the first day, when critical work must be done, Initiates were targeted to remain at the Academy and stay away from these affairs. Of course, the next few days and months will see more guests arrive—people run late, troubles happen when crossing the wastes, and even the most well-laid plans can be torn apart when confronted by the reality out there.”

Garin’s smile beamed brighter, and Colin groaned as what today was about became apparent.

“You will head into the village and interact with our guests. In this, you are a representative of our newest Knights—any social gaffes you cause will no doubt make their way back to me. So please be prudent, as I will have to answer for mistakes. On the other hand, you might meet new interesting people and learn things as initiates that your seniors will not be in the place to learn.” Boldwick continued and then got a bit more serious, “In the future, being a member of the Verdant Oak will look to have duties that revolve around outsider interaction. This is our order figuring out the best way to manage this. Do us proud.”

All of them gave an affirmative answer, and Boldwick waved it off with an eye roll. Erec got the impression that part of the speech required pomp from other Master Knights, so the gravity sank in.

With that, he gave a gesture to Dame Robin; she gave them a smile and gestured for them to follow.

Boldwick stood, hands behind his back, as he watched them leave.

It felt odd to leave Boldwick behind, but Erec supposed the Master Knight had his problems and logistics to tackle in the wake of the day. This was their duty—a privilege, really. One that Erec wasn’t about to squander.

They marched down the dusty road, following Dame Robin as she led them even further from the Academy, past the sprawling farming estates close to the central interior of the Kingdom. Their lush farmland was a new and growing presence every year up here.

It hardly mattered, Erec’s attention was fixed on Dame Robin’s back as they moved. The time they marched felt endless.

Because inside the ember was burning brighter, waiting. All of those people, his competition. Now, seeing them in person was better than he could’ve imagined. In a way, this was another gift. Dame Robin hummed to herself as they moved, and Gwen was catching up with Garin—their conversation mostly going in and out of the normal sorts of social niceties he certainly wasn’t in the mood for.

Until he heard his brother’s name right when they were nearing their destination.

“It’s been a couple of weeks since I saw Bedwyr. He hasn’t wanted much to do with me since the tournament was announced; honestly, no surprise, those two are related.” Gwen sighed.

“It can be hard when your partner takes too much space. You want them to do well. But yeah, if he’s anything like Erec, it’s a valid concern that they’ll push too hard and hurt themselves. If you ever need to stop by and chat, you know my ears are always open. I love the company,” Garin smoothly answered, one hand on the girl’s shoulder as they walked.

“Partner? Y’know, not sure what we even are anymore. I just don’t want to see him hurt himself.”

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“When was the last time you saw him?” Erec spoke up. Now that she had laid it out, he realized that he, too, hadn’t seen his brother in quite some time. After the expedition... once or twice since then. He missed the holidays. Confused, a dull ache set in his heart as he realized he might’ve made a mistake.

In all the chaos and training, Erec hadn’t spared much of a thought for him. He trusted Bedwyr to handle himself.

Their march was drawing to a close, too. Now, he could see the small village that made up their guest's temporary houses. It was lively, with music, drinking, and talking. A plethora of nobles, guards, and a couple of Knights were mingled in there. Occasionally, a commoner thought what sorts of permissions they needed to obtain to get permission to enter was beyond Erec.

A checkpoint sat ahead, with a trio of Verdant Oak Knights keeping guard.

“About a week. He looked pale. But different, there was a new light in his eyes… And he seemed confident.” Gwen shook her head, “Please tell me you’ve been keeping up with him. Is he doing alright? He shoved me off real quick.”

“I… I don’t know.” Erec answered as they came right to the checkpoint, killing the chance for any more conversation.

Suddenly, they were there. With the image of his brother in his mind, Dame Robin had a quick chat with the three posted Knights—A Knight Errant alone with a Knight Commander and a Knight Protector, and plenty of people with rank. She easily got through the checkpoint, guiding them along and stopping them just before entering the village.

“Rules,” she began, looking between the four of them. Her eyes shined a light bright, and she smiled as she said the next part, “I mean, I’d be remiss if I didn’t give operation instructions to our Knight Initiates before beginning. But how about we play a game? There are four rules. And four of you. You each get two tries, and if you get a rule, I’ll give you a piece of intel that you might find helpful.” She crossed her arms.

Garin whistled, then gave a little clap. “A lot of fun! I’m in.”

She nodded to him, “In that case, you can go first, Sir Honestus.”

Garin shook his head. “Well, this is like cheating.” He paused and looked at Erec, giving him a lazy grin. Munchy chirped on his shoulder, his tail flicking in a lazy way as he, too, stared at Erec.

In fact, the rest of the three initiates were looking his way. Collin rolled his eyes and complained, “This is scarcely a fair challenge.”

“What?” Erec bristled, not liking the sudden attention.

Garin raised a finger. “Rule one: No fighting.”

Oh. Of course.

Erec sighed and shook his head. Yeah, the spark was burning, and he wanted dearly to get a measure of the power of the people walking around inside. But by now, he was refined enough not to start a fight. He'd defend himself only if someone wanted to get in a brawl with him. Probably.

[They have you dead to rights.] VAL buzzed.

“Very excellent, Sir Honestus. Rule one: No fighting. If you must defend yourself, do so in a way that enables retreat; a senior Knight will come in and de-escalate. Since Sir Boldwick will be responsible for any behavior, I’d highly recommend avoiding any escalation at all.” Dame Robin nodded—then she beckoned Garin over.

And whispered in his ear.

Garin gave her a quick nod, a smile, and a thumbs up as she pulled away.

Dame Robin pointed to the next person in line, Colin. And a smile played out over her face. “You’re up next, Sir Nitidus.”

“Scarcely left me as easy of a guess as you gave to Garin,” he complained and rolled his eyes. Then, Colin focused, roaming the rest of the group, trying to pick a target. His eyes settled on the squirrel, and a smirk formed. “There are no animals allowed in the village.”

“Correct—no animals. Aside from the squirrel. I’m afraid Fido might be a bit too much, but Munchy… Well, Garin has him more under wraps, and he’s been given special permission.”

The fat squirrel grunted on Garin's shoulder, leaning down and looking at the coyote almost as if he were mocking the other pet. Like with Garin, she gestured him over and whispered in his ear. Like Garin, he pulled back, only a tad bit more confused, his eyes now locked on the village. He is not paying much attention to the rest of his group now.

Robin went down the row to Gwen.

“Well… Shit.” Gwen scratched her head, looking at the village. “No, uh—no romance?”

Dame Robin shook her head, “Not an explicit rule. I’d hope you’d keep yourself to yourself, but we can scarcely leverage something like that when someone here is intimately tied to a member of one of our new allies outside the walls. Besides, I don’t think that’s a concern for any in this group; you each have your own attachments and have not shown to be the type to stray.”

Erec felt his face red, and Enide flashed across his mind. Right now, she was with the Pendragons—not here, but outside the walls, making sure that their guests were coordinated and working closely with the Knights.

“Try again.” Dame Robin offered.

Gwen scratched her head and sighed, “Right, okay. Let’s think. What are the four things Boldwick wouldn’t like… We’ve got fights already, animals, though I didn’t see that one coming… Romances are fine, weirdly.”

Dame Robin shrugged her shoulders.

“Treason? That’s a rule, right? Don’t commit treason?”

“I wouldn’t say treason directly…” Robin shook her head, “Close, but I’m afraid still not it directly. Don’t spill Kingdom Secrets—that includes the total number of people in the military, Knight training programs, number of Knights, or specific details of our clandestine operations that you might have insight into. Basically, if it’s something you shouldn’t be telling a random citizen, it’s not something you should be saying there, and especially don’t give firm details about military strategy or numbers. They might ask, but be aware that’s information we’re trying to keep concealed. But no, that doesn’t mean you get to ‘commit treason.’ As that is a law regulated by our Kingdom foremost before a rule of this operation is made. Good try, though.”

Gwen sighed and looked at Erec. All of them did, once again. And his face was still red as he thought about Enide—he was starting to not like when they did this.

Also, he had no idea what the last rule could be.

He ran through all of the things he might imagine Boldwick talking about, worries, and concerns over this event that they wouldn’t want an initiate to mess up.

And then, he landed on the true point of this exercise. Of opening the Kingdom. It was to make alliances and their reputation and themselves known to those outside the walls. To take their place in the wider world.

And then, he understood what the last rule was.

“Don’t make promises to anyone.”

Dame Robin clapped, her head giving a firm nod, “Sufficient. The true rule is, ‘Don’t make promises to others on behalf of the Kingdom,’ but I’d refrain from personal promises, too. You do not have that authority at your rank. Promising the wrong thing to the wrong person could land us in political jeopardy or make for a bad situation. These people aren’t aware of our customs. They don’t know who has the authority to make the most important decisions, and we don’t know all of their customs and how they treat such vows.”

She gestured him over, still with a bright smile.

Erec leaned in, and she whispered her secret, “While we don’t know the strongest young contenders you’ll face off against in all the groups, we do have an idea of one of the strongest in Vega. He’s like the Arch-Magi, with a slicked pompadour. This one is his disciple actually, and his name is Forrest.” With that, she leaned back and gave him a smile. “Wish you the best with that information.”

He stared at her, working his jaw, feeling that ember inside the light again. His competition, And now he’d be able to find him, and get his own measure.

Yeah, the fire started to burn. Dame Robin held them for another brief couple of minutes, giving them some pleasant tips, taking Fido, and then, like that, she ushered them out. Birds from the nest, going straight into a complex social occasion. A year ago, something like this would have terrified Erec. But now, he couldn’t care about the social aspects. No. He was going to find the people who might be the most trouble for him and get his measure of who they were. The fire of excitement burned bright.