Knights Apocalyptica

Chapter 6: A Glowing Light

"Indirect tactics, efficiently applied, are inexhaustible as Heaven and Earth, unending as the flow of rivers and streams; like the sun and moon, they end but to begin anew; like the four seasons, they pass away to return once more"

-Sun Tzu, The Art Of War (Unknown, 1st Era)

A small fire roared in the cramped roofless structure. It still had three concrete walls, one of which was halfway to crumbling away. But the little ramshackle place provided a measure of protection from the cutting cold winds. Long ago, it served as the foundation for a two-story house. Or so Boldwick claimed.

Since then, the Knights had cleared it and occasionally used it as a staging ground for expeditions. But to Erec, there wasn’t much difference between this and camping in the wastes in terms of shelter.

At least out there, you’d get a better view of the stars.

Colin busied himself by polishing his Armor on one side of the cramped room. The light floated around him and Lyotte, rarely drifting by the other three.

Boldwick had left them alone to inspect the surrounding area and evaluate any threats.

Technically they should’ve been the ones to do so, but in Boldwick’s words, “You think I could sleep a wink relying on any of your green-horn eyes telling me it was safe?”

He wouldn’t tell them what he found, if he found anything at all. Until he returned, nobody was allowed to leave the shelter to perform their scouting trip.

Erec rubbed the back of his neck, his sweat-stained shirt, and the cool night breeze and plenty of water from his flask let him get his head back on straight.

That left him to consider his options forward. More than anything, he needed to prove his value; however, he couldn’t rely on his Armor to help him shine in a fight—which meant he had to rely on other skills. But that was where he’d capitalize on his skill sets and use knowledge the rest of these nobles never had a chance to learn. Survival was the name of the game.

“I’m starving,” Colin complained, eyes running over the rest of them.

“Yeah? Think everyone else is too.” Erec shot back sharply. Colin held his eyes.

“Did you bring food?”

“Are you stupid? No one brought anything. That’s the point of this trial.”

“You’re part of that house; why would you care about the rules? Come on, I know you snuck something in. I can tell. If you share, I’ll let my family know when we get back and—“

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Erec got to his feet, his blood close to boiling. The sun and the effort of making up for the weakening servos in his Armor with his strength. Now that stuck-up prick was accusing him of something he didn’t do? His emotions swelled. They needed an outlet, and Colin’s face looked like the perfect target to let off some of that pent-up frustration.

“Then go get me some food. You and that other boy in the horrid Armor—if you’re going to be useless and an eyesore for the rest of the trial, the least you can do is provide that for the people who’ll be carrying you through it.”

“Keep your mouth shut; I’m sick of you talking to my friend like that!” Garin shouted and stood up. There wasn’t any trace of his typical amicability. Colin sneered at him. Wow. When’s the last time I saw him pissed like that? A few hours of trying to find common ground with that asshole must have got to him.

“It’s unwise to ally yourself with the weak. You should know better, what, do you want to make things difficult with my house, son of Baron Honestus? You were doing well until now to show proper deference.”

“Colin! You know as well as I that this isn’t a place where status—“ Lyotte cut into the conversation, only to trail off as the other Duke’s spawn started to laugh. A tear came to the corner of Colin’s eye. The rest of the group shared a confused look.

“Were you about to say that status doesn’t matter here?” Colin snickered after the question, a horrible smile coming to his face. Lyotte fidgeted in place. One hand went to her long black locks and twisted them with a finger.

“I was. What of it?”

“Rich! ‘Status doesn’t matter’ Look around—“ Colin gestured to the rest of the group and then to the orb of light that tracked their movements. “Do you think it’s a coincidence that the children of two of the duchy are in a single group, let alone one with two of the seven trying out with junker Armor?”

“The g-groups are randomized, surely, that’s how they determine—“

“Or that the test administrator for our group is a Master Knight? Not just one of the Protectors or Commanders assigned to other groups?”

“I-I’m sure it’s just a coincidence—“ Colin broke out into another fit of laughter. Erec winced and looked away as Lyotte’s desperate eyes tried to latch on anyone else in the group. As if the girl was looking for someone to refute Colin’s argument. Somebody to stand up and tell her that he was wrong, that life was fair, and that there was nothing but sunshine and rainbows. She fidgeted in place as Colin delighted himself in her torment.

But nobody contradicted the duke’s son. He had the right feel for the situation. The world wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows; it was deserts and monsters. Erec felt a tad embarrassed that she hadn’t seen what they all had.

It was what it was.

“Oh, Lyotte, how can you be so ignorant? What, did your father locking you up like his precious bird rot your mind? Perhaps it kept your brain to the size of a bird—how stupid can you be? It’s downright embarrassing for your family. I wonder—“

“That’s enough,” Erec called out, unable to stand the mocking any longer. “You made your point.”

“Stay out of my affairs, pissant.” Colin glared at Erec. “You have not a single ounce of authority over me. Get on your knees and beg for my forgiveness, and pray I don’t seek you out after this trial is over.”

Erec rolled his sleeves up and stalked closer to the taller teenager. He was done with this constant lording over others and the piss-poor attitude and snide remarks Colin threw out all day long. “We’re not in Armor anymore; how about we test to see who’s stronger when you can’t flaunt around your daddy’s money.”

“Hey, hey, calm down, you two!” Colin puffed out his chest as the distance rapidly closed. Garin rushed towards them, panicked and trying to pull Erec away. But Erec didn’t have it. It was time to establish a pecking order.

“Wow, I leave for twenty minutes and come back to this?” Boldwick whistled from the entryway—having slipped back to the campsite. Even in his Armor, he moved without a single soul noticing him. His steel visage turned between Erec and Colin as everyone paused. Unsure whether or not he’d say anything. Boldwick flopped a dead mute-stag on the dirt and gestured toward Colin. “Well, don’t let me stop you. I’m not your babysitter.”

They all took a long look at the splayed-out corpse of the two-headed stag on the ground. A grim reminder that they weren’t safely tucked behind the Kingdom’s wall.

Erec let out a puff of breath and took a step back. Boldwick coming back set things in perspective. He wasn’t about to apologize to this asshole, but it didn’t benefit him to weaken himself in a fight while out in the field. He snapped his eyes towards the instructor. “Now that you’re back, we’re allowed to engage in our patrols, right?”

“Mhmm, that’s right.” Boldwick began to exit his Armor—a process that only took a few seconds with his streamlined system. He moved to his canvas bag, seemingly disinterested in the conflict as he pulled out a knife. “By the way, this food is mine. Not sharing it with any of you. If you wanna eat, you gotta forage.” He waved the knife in the air and smirked at everyone.

“I’m headed out to scout, then,” Erec said coldly, though he didn’t intend to pick up food. It wouldn’t be the first night he’d skipped dinner, and besides, he’d investigate some of the local wild crops he’d spotted tomorrow. The most important thing was clearing his head.

“Normally, I’d have you patch comms with your Armor, but something tells me that rig you got would give interference if it worked at all. So, we’ll settle for something more old-fashioned,” Boldwick leaned back over the back and tossed out a handheld radio. “Click the button if you got something to say; click it three times in a row to activate a beacon if you’re in deep shit.”

“I’ll go with you, Erec.” Garin shot up. He kept glancing at Colin and tried to keep himself between the two of them.

“No, I’m going alone.”

“Bold move, not exactly typical for an initiate to want to go on a solo patrol,” Boldwick said, though his voice carried disinterested boredom. He’d started to work on the corpse of the game he’d slain, tearing the knife into the patchy pelt to separate the skin from the meat.

Erec shrugged. “They’d all slow me down.” Garin flinched and frowned at him. The truth was that the anger in him was snapping and slushing around, and he’d rather have the space to himself to digest the feelings than talk it out with anyone. If Garin came with, Goddess knows what sort of shit might come out of his mouth before he’d had a chance to work himself down.

Better this way. Sorry, Garin. I’ll make it up to you later. He didn’t turn to face his friend but instead went to his Armor and went through the laborious process of putting it on.

“I’ll be going for a patrol too. I’m hungry...” Colin declared. “Who wants to come with me?” No one responded, so the bastard snorted and mumbled to himself.

Erec didn’t care what the prick got up to. But the floating mote of light circling Colin sure seemed to.

In a few minutes flat Erec was out of that stuffy little shelter and breathing the dusty night air through the vents in the Armor. His steps trailed away as he slipped further from the light of the fire—a small hatchet his only weapon against whatever he might find. While the trial didn’t permit them to bring supplies, they provided an assortment of weapons to choose from. But far too many of the weapons were swords. Erec debated snagging a spear too but worried the agile movement required to wield it in a fight would strain the Armor too much.

Besides, he was far more familiar with the weight of the hatchet. In a pinch, he could throw it a decent way too.

Though using this Armor gave everything an input lag. Sure, it might be able to add more power to a blow—and even let him move quicker, but the reaction speed behind it was nearly deadly. It also made sneaking around at night damn near impossible. Erec was familiar with various landscapes, thanks to his job working in the bio-caverns. Sometimes he had to sneak up on game or wildlife for documentation or even to subdue them to check their vitals.

But each of his steps was accompanied by the hum of machinery. He kept his eyes wide open—and began to trail to a deserted street lined with falling-apart buildings.

Long ago, this was a small town; according to the Church, this land was called Texas. Not that it mattered much anymore, nor would anyone in the Kingdom of Cindrus refer to this land as the Kingdom of Texas.

Funny how a bath in flames burned away everything that came before.

Erec paused. There was twinkling in the depths of one of the doorways. He looked either way down the street and then concentrated. Rhythmically the blinking repeated. A blue light, barely visible and half concealed by debris lying over it. Hesitant, he detached the hatchet from his Armor and took slow steps towards the light. Nothing changed; no monster shifted in the darkness as far as he could tell. The same pattern continued.

With one more long glance either way down the street, Erec advanced towards the mysterious glow.