Haicor almost scurried to the shelves. Her motion swift, she tenderly tapped on the them as she walked by it, her face in a thoughtful manner. Finally she stopped and reaching for the top shelf, she brought out a shield, grayish in colour by the way, its surface, incredibly silk.
Rhett and Ash stared at her, in bemusement, startled by her sudden enthusiasm. She ignored their books and in a fast motion, put the shield on the table.
"Cool sword but there's no time to admire, you've got to get prepared", She said.
Rhett inhaled casually and put the sword on the table, stretching his neck and his fingers.
"I feel like if you're not careful, you'll die when you face the dragon and I don't want that", Haicor said as she walked over to the shelf again, searching for more weapons and armour components..
Rhett smiled and then gazed at the shield, he noticed it had the same symbol on the crimson sword and he wondered if the others did. He also walked over to the shelf, his eyes sort of scouring through the items in it, as if to pick out any sign of the symbol.
Suddenly he stretched his hands forward, towards the middle of the shelf and brought out a sword, large, but to him it seemed like a dagger. He looked it over and soon noticed towards the tip was the symbol of the fire breathing dragon.
Ash walked over to him and looked at the sword also, squinting his eyes.
"Seems every weapon in this goddam kingdom has the symbol of the fire breathing dragon on it", Rhett voiced out.
Ash shrugged. "Seems like".
The two men heard the fall of a sword and turning to the direction, they saw, with hurried footsteps, Haicor carrying lots of weapons and Knight's armour components in her hand. She emptied them on the ground in front of them and shrugged, a smile on her face.
"Let's get you dressed", she said.
Rhett grinned. "I won't be dressing too well, it's a waste of time. I intend to just wear the Knight's armour on my clothes, without taking them off".
Ash looked the place over, he noticed there was no clock even though he had wanted to check the time.
Rhett hadn't really worn a Knight's armour before so it felt kind of awkward even thinking about doing so. Looking at the pile of Knight's armour components in front of him, he thought Haicor had done a good job of sorting them out before he knew he wouldn't know what to bring and he doubted if Ash knew either.
Rhett picked up a pauldron and wore it on his shoulders. Haicor sighed at that and chucked.
"That's not how you begin",she said.
"That's how I do it apparently, don't watch, infact!I need some privacy", Rhett said.
Ash shook his head in the negative. "No m'lord, we're here to help you, I know if we leave,you would wear the wrong stuff and come out looking silly".
Rhett rolled his eyes. "Whatever".
He picked up a vambrace. "Where do I wear this?".
"At your forearms", Ash replied before Haicor could.
Rhett complied and stared at him, surprised he knew how to wear a Knight's armour. Then, he felt kind of stupid, of course he ought to, he was the hand of the king, the king's assistant.
He picked up a sabaton and Ash helped him into it. And then Ash and Haicor helped in wearing Rhett the armour's visor, helmet, gorget, cuirass, pauldrons, gauntlets and greaves.
And then, Rhett was completely in a Knight's armour. His face hidden behind the helmet. He walked forward and then around the place, flexing his armour.
Haicor and Ash exchanged glances and soon burst out in a short laughter.
"You now look prepared for the battle m'lord", Ash said walking over the table to bring the shield and sword which he handed to Rhett now with a grim face.
"Feels heavy but-", Rhett shrugged. "Yeah, now we await the dragon".
Ash's expression had now changed and he was looking kind of sad. The joyful and amusing scene had now gone and the place had now been deprived of the jocularity it once had.
"Make me proud m'lord", Haicor said walking over to Rhett. "Don't just die, please, we're cooked if you do. Just try to slay the beast and go ahead with your plan".
Rhett nodded and stared at Rhett who gave him a hug, Haicor soon joined and what was earlier a hug had now changed to a very big hug.
Rhett, still in the embrace, remembered what the Seer had told him when he was in that small carriage carrying him to the battle stadium.
[ON A RULER'S SHOULDER LIES THE WORLD, THE WORLD OF HIS KINGDOM]
Then, it really didn't have any meaning but now it did, and the meaning was very deep and was now sinking in. He soon scattered the embrace and moved the sword in his hand, raising it in the air and then pointing it forward. His mind was determined and he felt a sort of(in a way), nostalgic feeling.
It felt as if the dragon had already arrived. He could almost smell it, it felt as if he could hear the sound of its wing, brushing past the air, over the rooftops, to where they were.
He felt like he could feel its breath on his body. The dragon felt nearer than ever. He turned to Ash and Haicor who stared at him in fear. Now that they were prepared, it felt as if they weren't. It was now really daunting to imagine the name {EMBER DRAGON}.
They suddenly heard hurried footsteps, rushing down the door. Ash's mind escalated and Rhett's heart beating now became faster. Haicor, frozen to the spot, stared blankly at the door.
They heard, the voices of Knights:
"The Ember Dragon is here!".
Another voice, it sounded like the one of king vongarth:
"Bring the damn dragon slayer here!".