Far from the city, watching it from a hill, the last point with a view of it, the second night of the festival finally came to an end, and the walls that previously protected me with their impassable immensity, now seemed like small, well-built palisades, surrounding a camp well lit by torches.
— First time out of town? — asked me, one of the masked agents, who accompanied me on this mission.
— Yes, — I replied, sitting on the grass and admiring the view — you know… it's a little strange, I had never even imagined leaving the gates of the capital… who would have thought to be here, enjoying this view.
The cold autumn winds dried the tears from an old wound, while the mysterious agent, wearing a white mask and black clothes, silently returned to her companions, who set up camp. These soldiers were strange, apart from their voices, there was no other way to differentiate them, three men and two women made up the suspicious group that accompanied me on this rescue mission, given to me by the prince, if it weren't for his brief explanation, never that I would trust these secret "knights" of royalty.
— Rest well, the next four hours will be the last we will be standing still for the next three nights — said one of them, in a soft, hoarse voice, while the others filled their bowls with hot soup.
— You better eat while you can, this will be our only hot meal for a while — the young, feminine voice from before warned me.
Without thinking much, I approached the fire and accepted a bowl that was offered to me, despite it being just military rations mixed with hot water, this dried meat soup was superb, not that I had any experience with rations on camping missions. The night remained calm and cool, thanks to the autumn breeze and the crackling firewood in front of me, a few minutes passed in silence and three of the masked agents went to bed in their tents.
— You better rest too, you got the third shift, make the most of your time — the owner of the hoarse voice warned me, without taking his eyes off the bowl.
I followed the advice and went to lie down in my tent, still in my armor, but anxiety prevented me from sleeping, or perhaps it was still my suspicions about these new companions that kept me awake, of course the suffocating grip of the iron plate and The chain mail on my chest didn't help at all.
— At least it's not raining anymore — I grumbled, rolling over in my sleeping bag — after those strange clouds, two nights ago, the skies were as clear as those in a desert… I think… after all, I've never been in one…
—…
— I… I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I'm sorry…
— A dream — I thought, seeing the dark and misty scene.
I felt like a ghost, watching the living through a veil, although it was clear to me, that this was a dream, something seemed strange… It wasn't an ordinary dream, it seemed… a memory, although I didn't recognize it. In front of me was a girl, kneeling, crying and with her hands covered in blood, beside her a long sword lying on the ground. The alley she was in, although familiar, was too dark to notice any other details, and before I could even try anything…
— It seems like she doesn't know anything, and she also doesn't have any friends to tell her if she wants to tell her anything — said the dry voice of a woman, which seemed to come from behind my head.
With the dream interrupted, what I was left with was a feeling of emptiness in an endless dark, without a ground to feel under my feet, it was as if I were a spirit, floating through the sky during the moonless month. A few minutes passed in silence, leaving me anxious for the voice to return, until I felt a hand on my shoulder, and then I woke up being called by the young voice of a boy.
— Vice captain of the guard. Hey! Vice-captain, it's time for your shift as watchman.
— … Right — I replied, a little slowly, after waking up and looking around, thinking that the tent had been fuller just a few moments before.
With no trace of anyone else having been here besides me, I left my tent, a few minutes after the masked young man who woke me up. I took my place next to another agent, sitting on a rock next to the fire, which was already starting to lose its shine. Without any news, the night remained calm and silent, even more so with my companion silent. Some clouds began to appear in the starry sky while blue flames appeared in the forest next to us, as someone who had never left the walls of the capital, I found myself tempted to chase such magical lights, if it weren't for the mission I was on.
With the end of my shift, I had time for one last rest before we left, but without being able to sleep, time passed really slowly as I searched my mind for what to think. With the camp unpacked, we left the last view of the city behind and continued on horseback for almost an hour, before stopping next to a calm river.
— We found no trace of the escaped bandit.
— And we are already a good distance from the capital, or any other city —
Three of the masked men whispered, while I filled my canteen, watched by the other two.
— … Right — agreed, what seemed to be the leader, after thinking for a moment — number three, five and the vice captain, will come with me to the forest. We will look for tracks there, in the meantime two and four, you "take care of the horses".
— They don't have names? — I asked myself.
— Anything to add, vice captain?
Continuing through the forest, with just our weapons and armor, the night seemed to become even darker in the shadows of the trees, with only a few rays of lunar light faintly illuminating the path in front of us. While the three masked men who accompanied me spread out and looked around, I concentrated on the ground, looking for tracks, and before I even realized it, the presence of my "allies" had completely disappeared.
— "…No trace here either. Stopping to think, did we follow any trail or clue?"
Lost in my thoughts, in the silence, I began to notice the return of the spirits, will o' wisps, blue flames also known as will-o'-the-wisps, I had already heard some stories from traders. If it weren't for these spirits, illuminating the darkest corners of this forest, I wouldn't have seen the arrow flying towards my head, just in time to dodge.
- Who's there? Show up! — I shouted, standing up, ready to draw my steel whip and with the buckler in position.
With no answers, the only sound I heard was the leaves rustling in the wind, nervously, I looked around, trying to find something, not knowing exactly what I was looking for, when I realized that I was alone. The shadows "One", "Two" and "Five" were nowhere to be seen, not even their bodies, so they must be alive, right? That's what I thought in the short space of time between the arrow and the next attack, this time, a dagger that approached my throat, I immediately repelled it with my shield, but I still couldn't see my attacker. And lost in this forest, a completely new terrain for me, it wouldn't take long for them to finally hit me.
- Very good! If that's how you want it… "Round through the air and spread across the ground, þunor leoht!" — a small flash appeared in my left hand that I had raised to the sky, and then it filled the area around me for an instant.
Hoping that my trick had blinded them, I dashed into the forest, looking for a clearing or "allies." Without much luck, just less than 10 meters from where I was, another arrow came towards me, hitting the tree in front of me.
— Damn... No more clouds... There's not much more I... can do — I thought, as I prepared for the next attack.
The night grew darker every moment, and the delay between attacks made me think they were playing with me, as if I were easy prey, as if the shame of escaping earlier wasn't enough. Finally another attack, this time two arrows, the first was easy to dodge, but the second pinned my foot to the ground for an instant. giving time for a dagger, coming from my shadow, to graze my leg behind the armor. Before I could react, the blade disappeared, leaving me even more indignant and worried, the blue flames from before, which now began to shake, didn't help.
— What will happen now damn...
The numbness in my leg almost made me give up, when the will-o'-the-wisps gathered in three areas around me, thus revealing my enemies, the furthest holding a bow and two arrows, with a delicate silhouette, in a dark uniform and Chalk-white mask, it was shade number five. One of my "allies" on this mission, who had just fired two arrows at me, surprised, my only reaction was to dodge the arrow, throwing myself to the side, clumsily and falling face down in the mud. When I tried to get up, the numbness in my injured leg diminished my strength and slowed me down enough for one of the other two, shadows, armed with a long sword, to attack me, aiming for my neck, but only grazing my face. face.
—Ha… Ha… What are you doing?!
Without answers and trying to recover, the two first approached me like wolves, closing in on their prey. With my blood flowing, a strange numbness in my leg, and being outnumbered, the fear of death became more and more present in my thoughts. For the first time in my life, I found myself in a situation with no escape, in which my own abilities had been surpassed several times.
—Ha… Very good! You can come, now I'm ready — I said, a little breathless, positioning my shield and steadying the flail in my hand.
The fight started again with a knife, thrown from the shadows, to my left, probably the leader, who was still hiding, even with the will'o wisps helping me, they continued to illuminate the surroundings of those two, but with the shadow one, They seemed lost, moving back and forth through the forest. But with no time to think, I had to act, the fifth shadow was already taking another arrow from his quiver, while number three came towards me, holding his sword in both hands, ready to pierce my armor. I deflected him with my shield at the last second, the shrill sound of scraping metal seemed to never end, while I saw the scene slow down and I finally managed to counterattack, kicking him in the stomach and making him roll through the mud.
— Ha... Come on, don't think that a single spell is enough to drain my energy.
Still silent, as the young man I had knocked down got up, the three predators, who had previously seemed to be having fun, playing with their prey, now emanated a dark and terrifying aura, sending a chill up my spine. The wind seemed to accelerate, and the leaves of the trees shook nonstop, with a bad feeling and my hair standing on end, I jumped towards the fifth shadow, who was already releasing his fingers from the string of his hunting bow. Startled, running toward an arrow, I swung the flail in my hand with all the strength I had, the chain stretching and the weight drawing a curve in the air, from behind me to the target more than a meter in front of me. forward, I could already feel the impact of the gun on her head, and imagine the mask breaking. But something inside me screamed, warned "Get down!"
— You have good instincts, I must admit... — said, in a deep and serious voice, the man who wore the same clothes and masks as the woman in front of me, while the wind stopped blowing, and the spirits focused on a single place. .
And so, without any chant or word of power, a typhoon passed over me, as if all the wind from before had gathered and turned at the last moment, cutting off everything in its path.
— …But he lacks experience — he finished, before disappearing again, leaving the blue flames lost.
Locked in that position, one leg crouched, the other straight, with the buckler protecting my face and an expression of pure terror, a second seemed to last an eternity, leaves lifted from the ground, a few strands of my hair cut, and a head spinning in the air with the mask still on, and the will-o'-the-wisps slowly lining up in front of me as reason finally returned to my mind.
— "Run and run, ofost" — I enchanted, and ran, with my boots shining, followed the indicated path and left behind, with an expression of disgust, the body of my enemy, still standing, squirting blood, while her head fell to the ground and the mask came loose — damn, damn, damn! I should be vice captain damn it!! The second strongest person in the kingdom.
In a few seconds, I was already at the exit of the forest, almost crossing the trees, back into the open field, when I noticed, next to the horses, the other two, shadows, still guarding the equipment, "are they also behind? of my life", I thought, they were part of the same group after all, "… Or maybe not, these could be different, after all, they were left behind… Yes, their boss also killed his own subordinate…"
— … Those three must be acting alone… That's it… They must be spies, there must be no other reason for the prince's agents…
— The captain is taking a while, huh? — the man with the male voice was surprised.
— He must be having fun, it's been a while since we received a mission — the woman replied in a hoarse voice.
—And yet he left us here on guard…
— "… And he took the recruits" — she added, mockingly — Don't worry, it seems that this prince has some plans, we will probably be busier than ever.
Even without seeing their faces, I could feel that behind those masks, they were smiling, but even that attitude and the chill I felt were not what worried me, those words from before confirmed the fear in my subconscious. , they were not spies or traitors, they were orders from the prince. Not knowing what to do, unable to move forward or return, I stood between those trees, a few meters away from two murderers, who luckily hadn't discovered me yet.
- And now? If the two from before were newbies, who I could barely handle, how… — I thought repeatedly, until I felt a drop, which fell, on my nose.
And looking up, I could see, the sky closing in, Morgana, the big blue moon, partially hidden by a gigantic cloud while smaller ones seemed to form a siege under Merlin, the small red moon. As the drops began to fall to the earth, my hope grew, the sound of the rain and the fading light made my escape easier, I thought, as well as a fighting chance.
— And now it's raining too... Ah! Wonderful — the man sighed.
— If you have to put up with the rain, I have to put up with both — the woman complained, turning to get something from the horses.
— It's now... "Spread through the water, þunor leoht" — I whispered, just before small rays came out of my fingers and walked through the drops, to the killer's eyes, where they burst in a large and noisy flash.
Hoping that, with the sound, they would both be disoriented, I held the gun in my hand and finally advanced out of that forest, the spirits from before no longer accompanied me, why they helped me until then, I imagined I would never know, and what mattered? Now it was time to flee, even with all my speed and magic, their leader wouldn't be too far away from me. With the chain shortened, I swung the weight of the flail and aimed for the man's head, save for the other shadow, who kicked me away with a kick to my chest, surprising me and almost shaking my confidence.
— Well, the captain said yesterday… You have no experience! — she mocked.
— Argh! Damn… who's there? My ears are still ringing!
She didn't respond — they must both be deaf — I shouted as I pointed my fingers at them, resulting in the woman throwing herself to the side, alone.
With a smile on my face, I attacked her before she got up and called my bluff. The flail hit her shoulder, leaving a mark on the dark leather shoulder pad and taking her to the ground.
- Haha ha. Finally, finally a blow hit them!
— Damn lucky lady, don't think you're thinking… — she said, standing up, with her left arm numb — just because she hit me once.
— It seems their hearing is already returning — I murmured, as she pointed a short sword at me.
- Hey! Idiot recovers soon. Or I'll have all the fun for myself… "Stræl!"
She stood for a moment, until in the blink of an eye she had already cut halfway between us, and in the next instant her sword was hitting my shield, which I reflexively used to protect my heart. The sword that looked no more than two feet long, held by a woman with muscles thinner than mine, weighed on my arm as if it were a mullion, brought down on me by a trained knight. Luckily the impact pushed us away and gave me time to think, as I saw the damage left on my buckler and the blood running underneath it… my arm had been broken.
— Tooth for a tooth, an eye for an eye… arm for an arm, or something like that, right? — she laughed right away.
My anger and fear were mixed, I should run away, but for some reason I still wanted to fight, I wanted to crush the face behind that mask, bury her idiot partner, in the mud, and send the leader's body, to that prince damn you. All the fear I had felt before seemed to have turned into fury, along with the pain of my wounds.
Morgana's silvery blue light began to disappear, leaving only Merlin's blood red, as the rain pressed down, cleaning me of the mud from earlier and diluting the blood on my face. Lightning struck, and with it, a memory in my mind, relieved my clenched teeth, and my fist, which was already clenching the handle of the weapon for an enraged attack. The body of a young woman, on the floor of an alley, in the capital, reminded me of the results of a poorly thought out attack, even though I still didn't remember exactly why. I shook my head, my long hair, soaked, weighing a lot and the pain returning, I noticed that shadow number four was acting strange, half hidden, behind the horses.
— Haaa! — I sighed — Silent spells, double enchantments and mind spells, why the hell does the order of royal knights exist!
They remained silent, it seems that even the provocations from before were an act, to irritate and instigate me, making it easier for the spell to affect me, but with this exposed, the killer, with his vision and hearing already recovered, took one of the horses, a longbow, and a quiver full of steel-tipped arrows. Even with my shield, the most I could do would be an arrow stuck in my wrist and another wound before another shot that would pierce my armor like it was paper. With a clear mind, I was sure, they had only been playing with me until now, I had no other choice.
— "Round through the air and spread through the water, þunor leoht!"
With my right hand raised, this time, many more rays appeared, spreading through the weapon and ascending each drop in front of me, I quickly turned and prepared to release the spell, hoping that the spell on a larger scale would give me time to escape, when the chill in my spine stopped me. It wasn't a spell, or incantation, it was the same feeling as before, when shadow three, was killed, the leader of the assassins, finally caught up with me. No more than five minutes had passed since it started raining, that was the time I had managed, with my enchanted escape, or better said, that was the time he gave me the advantage.
— Ha… Ha… Ha… — panting, I was approaching my limit, never before had a fight made me like this, never before in my life had I released so many spells.
I know, from common sense, that magic knights are rare and can use more than two spells in combat, at least if they are human. I, on the other hand, had already used four, a normal person would have fainted, however, I'm just out of breath.
— You took your time, boss — said the woman, as the lightning began to slowly stop.
— My bad, my bad, I had to carry the recruit.
However, my opponents, who not only used at least one spell, but also used them so freely, were standing right behind me, not even panting, joking around, as they decided when to kill me.
— So, can we kill her now — the shadow four, she asked.
Fear immobilized me, as every cell in my body screamed, "run away", any confidence I had, disappeared into the darkness of the night, surrounding the hill we stood on, not a single soul for me to turn to for help, not a single chance to survive against those four assassins, the gun in my hand, almost slipping, like the blood on my arm and face.
— Okay, we better finish this work soon — as soon as he spoke, my spell finally stopped, and the four assassins began to surround me in a circle.
— Haaa — sighed the newbie — it looks like she's already given up.
— After everything you've tried and failed, I think any normal person would give up — said the woman with the hoarse voice.
—Hahaha, any normal person would already be dead.
— Indeed, but I didn't expect a withdrawal, I must have overestimated her — the captain replied, disappointed — even so, she was a "knight of the kingdom, loyal to the end", don't you believe she deserves a farewell? — He finished mocking.
The four stopped, less than two meters from me, the rain was strong, with a cold wind, and Merlin's light was also beginning to disappear, when they simultaneously drew a sword each, raised them in salute and began, with voices mixing as the clouds thundered…
— "For the kingdom you lived, for the kingdom you fought, for the kingdom you bled and for the king you died" — they intoned, farewell to the knights, without any feeling.
The swords rose and with them my destiny, my fear, my anger, my indignation, with everything together, as they descended, cutting through wind and water I shouted — þunor deaþ! — my voice boomed like thunder as lightning struck, splitting into five and separating us with an explosion.
…
At the bottom, of a ravine, close to some trees, I closed my eyes and whispered — as if… I was going to… give up… and die… alone… Ha… haha…
…
— I'm... I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry Annie! — I woke up, in a simple bed, under a wooden ceiling.