A plume of dust rose into the air.The incessant neighing of horses that accompanied it specifying the existence of a convoy .Beneath the blue sky ,cloudless ,they could be seen ,the knights in shining armor as they headed onward to their destination ; a solitary farm by a hillock.
There was nobody to be seen at all ,nobody save for the voracious chickens roaming about inside their fences , the headstrong cows mooing as they headbutted each other.
All in all , a very lively scene yet a strange atmosphere of gloom seemed to have settled overhead as if the knights had arrived not at a vibrant farmstead but a solemn funeral to the contrary.
One of them unconsciously swatted his shoulder .A mosquito came off along with his palm upon withdrawal.The remains of it were torn to shreds , of course.
"It's a bit too silent,What do you think sir ? Think they gave us the slip ?" One of the men cautiously whispered to the man in the lead whose visage was shrouded by his helm .
A calm voice came from beneath it .
"He'll be here if he knows what's best for him." The other man nodded in understanding and then turned behind to signal the rest of his brethren.
The thunderous thumping on the front door sounded all too real to Brenn.Real enough to disturb any dreams that he had been having till now.
His gaze ventured forth to his father a stoic man of thirty odd, whose gaze showed a rare loss of calm something that he wasn't used to seeing.
Ever since he was young his father had always been calm while his mother had been the one who worried.
Be it the time that he had a bad fall after almost being gored by a bull or the time that he had got last during the Yearly Fair at the village never had he seen him worried and that had unknowingly built a sense of confidence into him a lad of naught but eight years of age.
A confidence that even if the sky were to fall he would be okay because there was someone who could carry it on his shoulders.
Which was why when he was suddenly woken up from amidst his slumber and told to dress up hurriedly he didn't know what to do.He didn't understand why was mother had laid her head bare on the table by the hearth weeping copiously or why his father polished his rusty sword that hadn't been wielded in years fiercely as he did so as if the whetstone were the bane of his life.
His father would had been sitting immobile for a while now stood up abruptly in response to the rude intrusion upon their premises.
"It's them..It's undoubtedly them" , the hitherto quite sobs turned into shrieks and wails of agony that caused quite a din in the room.
"Quiet Woman ! Now is no time for you to flail about ! Get the boy out as we discussed and come back at once ! I will entertain our uninvited guests till then." His eyes seemed to burst out in sparks ; his face smouldering in wrath as he uttered these words.
Brenn's mother got up and nodded wiping her tears."Come along honey ! Come with momma now !"
"But I don't want to ! "
"Slap !"
The sound of a resounding slap resonated ."You will do as your mother tells you .There is no time for any nonsense on your part,Understand ?"
Brenn nodded his scared expression all too visible.
"Go,get going then!"
The woman nodded and dragged her son away with her even as the door unable to stand to the relentless onslaught it faced finally gave way.
The lead knight watched as his subordinates filled into the lobby , already he could see them casting greedy looks on the walls perhaps fantasising about the loot that they would end up with; His control was the only thing that maintained any semblance of civility in this room.
Like a thin leash tied across the necks of ravenous hounds ; lift it and all you have is mayhem.Not that he cared though .That wasn't his job at all .
His mouth finally curved up in a smile at the sight of his prey approaching a good-looking man, middle aged , brown hair.
Although he seemed to have gained a scholarly vibe from all the years spent teaching he didn't seem to have lost his martial aura entirely.
Entirely that is.
He lifted his helm in greeting .It was one thing dealing with your subordinates and an another when going to appointments like these.
He always liked to see the emotions of his prey firsthand as they transferred like colours in a kaleidoscope .Rage,fear followed by hope and then the final despair .
All which made excellent ingredients for a bountiful feast .
He couldn't help but lick his chops in anticipation."Dessert is served at last."
His prey stood tall , as tall as he was , a fact not to his liking at all and his eyes seemed to hold something different from what he was expecting.
Defiance was it ?
He hadn't seen that in a long while.Maybe burning those damn eyes would do the trick or poking them.
He didn't like them one bit at all.
They didn't belong not in this age where scum knew where they belonged.Being trodden underneath the feet of those better.
"To what do I owe the pleasure of a visit by the likes of you ? I am quite sure that you must have lost your way.After all Neither the Pub nor the Brothel is anywhere closeby."
"The pleasure is all mine , Mr Longman .That's what they call you isn't it at a quaint little shack thereabouts ? " ,the Lead Knight gestured animatedly."The one they call a school where even the children of the serfs can study the techniques of the knights.Can you believe it?" , He roared uproariously .His voice deepening,"Because that would be illegal now,wouldn't it ? ".
He stepped forward till the two men were face to face .Their eyes emitting sparks as their gazes collided ."I certainly don't recall committing any instance of wrongdoing whatsoever, Mr Chief Knight and I'm sure that the Lord whom you serve would attest to this fact as well."
"Oh threatening me by the Law is it now,Hear that lads ?" The entire posse which had remained a mute spectator to the proceedings so far roared about in a raucous laughter creating a shrill cacophony .
"Let me tell this to you ,Longman since you seem so confident.Right before we came here , we visited the not so quaint shack correction s***hole where you spent your time sowing your poisonous seeds.I'm sure that you'll be glad to know we wiped them all out .Every single one of them.Wouldn't want weeds messing around with the fine harvest now wouldn't we?"
Brenn's father lost his cool for the first time in their conversation , his eyes blazed in anger seeking to burn the demon clothed in human skin in front of him to ashes."What did you do ? You Damned Fiend ! They were children ,All of them ! How could you ?"
"They ceased to be children the moment they picked up those swords .Whose fault was that huh ? "
The Lord might have turned a blind eye even then but you just had to teach them the Breathing Technique ! Have you any idea what you had done , you damn heretic ! "
"All I did was to remove those accursed abominations .Those vile of blood have no right to uphold the Knightly Spirit.Not to mention that barbaric lot won't even know head or tail of it even if I showed it to them."
" All I did was from the standpoint of justice.To you I may be a murderer but in the eyes of the world I'm undoubtedly a champion of justice who upheld order and prevented the onset of chaos caused by filth such as you with your ridiculous notions."
Cha !
The sound of swords being drawn from their sheaths could be heard even as the Lead Knight wiped off the spit from his face."Easy lads ! He isn't going anywhere."
"Still have some spirit left with you Well,no matter.Incidentally I heard that over the years you settled down .Had a child ,a boy of what eight is it ? And a lovely dame to boot as well.I will leave the boy for the Streets of the Stronghold however the hospitality of your missus shall be enjoyed by yours truly ; after all a long journey does merit some compensation doesn't it ?"
"You Dare !" A roar came out from the mouth of Brenn's Father that sent the knights scurrying.For the roar was a literal one .A sonic burst that shattered all glass and split every ear-drum on its way leaving the Knights whining and cursing in pain.
The Lead Knight however stood there unfazed ."I didn't think you had it in you still.Seems I have misunderstood you a bit.A tamed beast is still a beast after all.Well,whatever get going you lot Bring the boy and the woman to me .Don't stop to enjoy or I would have your bones ground to a pulp later on.I will hold the troublesome piece of filth here by myself and a couple of others.Hmm Rodney and Starr would do , the rest of you louts get going !"
Accompanied to the sounds of crashing the Knights disappeared one by one save for the two selected by the Lead Knight.Even as Brenn's Father did his best to pursue them he found himself thwarted time and time again by the Lead Knight.He had to do his best to ensure that he wasn't cut down for while the nature of the Lead Knight was rotten to the core his skills were the very opposite.
"Aaaah! " A very familiar high-pitched scream reached his ears which prompted him to put forth even more of his already depleting spirit into his swordplay.Suddenly an orange glow lit up in the room accompanied by sizzling sounds and an overwhelming smell of smoke.Some miscreant had taken a proverb a bit too far it seemed.Leading to widespread chaos accompanied by grunts, screams and unholy laughter.
Far way on a distant hillock a child of eight years old could be seen crawling from within a hole that vanished into darkness.
Even as he crawled out of the wombs of the earth his eyes weren't gazing at the blue sky above but far-way at the distant sight of smoke spiralling into the sky over a horizon burning red.
Like a pile of firewood set alight by the gods above.
Tears spilled unconsciously down his cheeks .
He stood there watching and watching , immobile for try as he might he couldn't take a single step.
He could only watch on helplessly as the last vestiges of the smoke tunneled through into the skies above taking all traces of the warmth with them.
His body managed to shake off its paralysis at last .
As it turned the other way towards the Cold World that remained behind.