by Heath Pfaff
"There was, however, an unanticipated problem. Tyell was dying. He was growing weaker and weaker while Ethaniel was growing stronger and stronger. Ethaniel was heartbroken, and would not leave his friend's side. Any time Tyell would falter in his belief that he would get better, Ethaniel would encourage him, unwilling to let the man die without a fight. However, it eventually became clear that Tyell would not recover. Before he died, Tyell demanded that Ethaniel take his other eye, so that he might receive the full benefit from the transfer. Ethan did not want to, but the recently healed knight would not deny his friend anything within his power to grant, and so he took the other eye, going under the knife a second time. The result was an amazing success for the knight, and an all too predictable end for his Uliona brother. Ethaniel, though greatly troubled by the source of his power, became immensely more potent for the loss of his friend.
"Time passed, and Ethaniel's fame spread. He was faster and stronger than any knight to come before him, and was only growing more powerful with time. I must admit that I cared little about his progression through the ranks because I wanted only one thing, and that was to return to the Uliona to be with Reilai. As it turned out, I didn't have to wait long to get my wish. The Uliona were falling into war again, and this time the Kizekin were coming at them with everything they had. The still primarily peaceful Uliona were losing quickly, despite now having a standing army that Ethaniel and I had helped to build the last time we had been there. We should have been dispatched immediately to help our friends. However, the situation had changed for humanity.
"Our king had seen the progress of Ethaniel and been mightily impressed by the rise of the incredible Knight. His head was filled with visions of legions of unstoppable Knights, quick to heal, and deadly fast with a blade. He crafted a scheme that would see the creation of his vision, and the realization of his ambition for an unbeatable army. When the Uliona came to the king for help, he refused to give them aid.
"Distraught by our king's refusal, the Uliona were about to return home in shame when the king offered them an ultimatum. He told them that he would send help, indeed, he would send a permanent border guard to remain vigilant and protective over their border with the Kizekin, if they would agree to sign a magically binding pact that would force them to give their most powerful magically tuned people to the humans to be used to build more knights like the knight Ethaniel. At first the Uliona refused, disgusted that the human king would ask for something so terrible from them, but within a month they collapsed beneath the pressures of the encroaching forces and signed the blood pact with the king of the humans, forever binding the Uliona to offer their greatest for sacrifice to the order that would be known as the Knights of Ethan, or the Knights of Ethaniel. The king promised that in return the Uliona would never need fear for their borders again, and in so far as that was concerned, he has been true to his word.
"Crystal testing began en mass, and it started with those of us who had already been raised to knighthood. I was tested just before leaving to fight on the Uliona border, and I remember not caring about the test at all. I merely wanted to rejoin my love, and do what needed to be done to ensure that we would have a place to start a life together. Indeed, I intended to leave the order of the Knights forever once the war was through. I cared little for what crystal changed what color, as I had been told beforehand that the chance of being matched to an Uliona to become a creature like Ethaniel was almost non-existent. At the time I did not have any feelings for this new practice the king had begun one way or the other. To me, it was all politics, and of no interest. That changed quickly enough.
"When I returned to the land of the Uliona, Ethaniel and the others immediately went to the front line to begin pushing back the invaders, but I was brought back to my place of research, where things had progressed slowly without my aid. I was so eager to return to my work there, that I could barely contain myself, and sure enough, when I got there, Reilai was already hard at work on setting up my equipment. The work was close to a breakthrough, and we both knew it, along with the other researchers who were happy to have me back. As such, Reilai and I put our personal feelings for each other aside for a time, and threw ourselves into our work. I cannot tell you how much I regret that now. I should have spent more time with her. I only ever even kissed her once.... Months passed, battles raged, and one day a messenger came to my office, asking me to report to Ethaniel as soon as possible.
"I had not seen him in a long time, and when I did I was more than shocked to see that he had changed incredibly. He had the arms and legs of a Fell Beast grafted to his body, as well as the ears. I hadn't known such a thing was possible, but Ethaniel quickly explained that the Uliona and humans involved in perfecting the eye transferring process had determined that such things would be possible as long as the donor and host of the eyes were both strong. He quickly dismissed talk of his new limbs though, and looked at me with such pain in his eyes that I knew something terrible was coming next. Ethaniel has ever been soft at heart. I didn't want him to say what he was going to say, and I didn't even yet know what it was he had to say. He told me, then, that I had been chosen to be the second of his Knights. I felt a mix of terror and wonder at the thought. Certainly Ethaniel was impressive, but I did not want to kill one of the Uliona for such benefits. I told him as much, but he just shook his head and told me that I must do what was necessary to preserve the kingdom. I don't know if he knew the truth of how I felt about Reilai, I don't think I'd ever told him, but he still did not tell me who it was that I was bound to. To be fair, I believe he thought she was just a friend of mine. He escorted me to the medical pavilion where the procedure was to be carried out.
"I asked him why I hadn't had to go through a bonding procedure. He told me that the procedure was already done, and that I was to have the physical part done immediately so that I could begin recovery." Lucidil's voice faltered. He paused for a moment.
"As I made my way to the medical pavilion with Ethaniel I remember feeling that something terrible was about to happen. Once inside, I lay down on a table so that they could fasten me down securely. Ethaniel never left my side. Only after I had been fastened down did they bring in Reilai. In my foolish ignorance I told them to take her away, that she should not see what was about to happen. Can you believe that I said that? ...That I was so naïve I believed they had simply brought here there to observe for research? It was only after they began strapping her to the table next to mine that I realized what was happening. She died screaming my name. She must have known the entire time what was to happen, but she was bound by the pact to not speak of it. Every day must have been so terrible for her..." He paused, and I felt tears rolling down my cheeks and realized that I was crying. His experience held so much of my own that I couldn't help but think of Kye. Fero got up from her seat and walked across the tent to stand next to Weaver, who had turned away for a moment. Finally, he seemed to gather himself together and turned back to face those of us in the tent.
"I resumed my work on the cloaks as soon as I was able to see again, trying desperately to shut out what had happened in that medical tent, but it would not leave me. I finished my work on the cloak, and drew up the reports on the processes involved in its creation. After that I was expected to be out on the front line, fighting, and that is what I did. I fell into battle, killing and killing, and when I finished that, I killed some more, because that seemed to be the only purpose I'd been bred for. Ethaniel and I were the only two of our kind at that time. At first everyone respected us, but after a time, after the bodies began to pile up behind us, humans and Uliona alike began to fear us. The Uliona, I think, with good reason. After all, we stare at them with the dead eyes of their own kind.
"One day I took Ethaniel aside and I asked him how he could fight on, knowing where our power had come from, and he looked me straight in the eyes, his blue-black eyes meeting my fiery red ones, and told me that we were fighting for a better world in which no one knew the word 'war.' His eyes l
ied, though. He wanted to believe the words he spoke, that I could tell, but I could see that on some level he held no faith in them. I didn't believe it anymore either. Reilai was dead, and the world was not going to get any better with our king intent on killing so that he might create greater weapons. In time, the war against the Kizekin ended, and Ethaniel and I returned to our home kingdom, heroes of countless battles.
"When we returned, the king dubbed us both heroes of the realm, and officially recognized the material I'd made, naming it after myself, and commissioning a cloak of the Lucidil material to be made for each Knight to ascend to the Knights of Ethan. It was at that point that Ethaniel began calling me 'Weaver,' in honor of the cloth I had created. That also began the tradition of giving the Knights of Ethan a name based on a trait associated with them. Only Ethaniel himself ever escaped that particular tradition. Despite being a hero, and well respected within the kingdom, a great unrest built within me.
"Fifty years passed. Fifty years of obeying orders, killing who I was told to kill, and doing what I was told to do. The knights of Ethaniel were expanding. There were nearly thirty of us at that point. Suddenly, I found myself scheduled to stand in attendance at the transfer ceremony of one of our newest members. I had never attended such a ceremony before, not since my own. In fact, I had avoided even hearing about them as much as possible, but Ethan had been to all of them. I believe he was attempting to punish himself for being at the head of our damned Order. Anyway, Ethaniel was not able to attend this particular occasion, and so I had been offered as a substitute to fill his place, and lend honor to the events. They had ritualized the whole thing, making a special room for the process, and standing around like a great and sacred Order about some important business. I was immediately disgusted. When the cutting began, and screaming filled the air, I found all my terrible memories rushing back into me. I had tried so hard to forget everything, but there it all was again, pictures carried on the tide of screams, smashing through my mind with the ferocity of a sharp arrow launched from a powerful crossbow. I realized in that moment that I hated everything about what we had become, the Knights, Ethaniel, humanity, myself, and that the only way I would ever be able to live with myself, was if I simply walked away from it all. So I did. I left immediately after the ceremony. I just started walking, and didn't stop until I was as far away from the Knights of Ethaniel and their corrupt king as I could get myself.
"When I first left, I didn't have a revolution in mind. I was simply a man who knew that he couldn't be a part of what was going on around him any longer. In time though, I made new connections and began to realize that by doing nothing, I was enabling more and more repetitions of what had happened to me, and so I began to do what I should have done from the beginning. With all the time that had passed, my task was more difficult than ever. The Knights of Ethaniel were constantly expanding and growing more powerful. The king's mundane armies were growing in size as well. I worked from the shadows, forming alliances wherever they were available, building up the army you see in this camp now. I've forged treaties with the Shao Geok and rogue peoples of the Uliona. I've also pulled to my side member of the Knights of Ethan that wish to stop the great evils of the king. There are twenty-six such Knights in our army. Barely an eighth of the number still commanded by the king, but some of the finest warriors serve on our side, Lowin. In you, though, we see a great hope. You have the potential to be the very best of us, and with you on our side we could finally put an end to the king's pact with the Uliona, and an end to this corrupt kingdom of humanity."
To say that Weaver's story was shocking would have been an understatement. Though we'd lived in distinctly different times, the parallels between our lives were hard to miss. I couldn't help but look at the red-eyed warrior in a new light, and wonder if he was what I would have become if given so many years to build the bitterness that was already festering in my heart. Would I become something worse than he? There was no way for me to know for certain, but the connection between Lucidil and myself was undeniable. There were still many questions, however, and I intended to have them answered. I had gone too long with too little information. I would ask my questions and see what answers there were to find. As for the proposition laid before me, the offer of a place of honor in Lucidil's army, I suspected there was more to what the red-eyed devil wanted than merely to have me as an officer under his command. That, too, I would have from him in good time.
"You were responsible for the attack on Fell Rock my last night there, and for the presence of that creature, the Lantern Eye, were you not?" I began my search for answers.
"The first part of that question is simple. Yes, I was responsible for the attack on Fell Rock that night. It was our first major push against the king's forces, and it was undeniably successful. We struck fast and true, lost very few of our own men and destroyed many powerful enemies. We also managed our secondary objective, which was to secure you," Lucidil responded with cool composure. I had to bite back my anger at his dispassionate explanation of his attack on Fell Rock. "As for the Lantern Eye, that was another matter entirely. While I am technically responsible for it being there, I did not know it would be there, nor did it fight on my behalf, but instead killed indiscriminately, destroying parts of my forces along with those of the king. Would you like me to explain?"
I answered the fallen Knight with my silence, and he went on, unperturbed, "It would have been impossible for us to move a sizable military force across land to Fell Rock without attracting notice and negating our only true advantage in an attack of such a nature. Instead of marching our forces day and night for weeks, and arriving exhausted to battle a foe with superior numbers, we decided to establish a traveler's rift. A traveler's rift is an ancient magic that has been abandoned, indeed forbidden in most lands, for hundreds of years, but it allows, through long and arduous preparation that spans years, for two points great distances apart to be connected by one short passageway that any number of people can walk through. The trick is that both sides of the rift, the exit and the entrance, if you like, must be prepared in unison. This meant that we had to have forces stationed here to perform the proper rituals at the proper times, so that the gateway would open. However, as is true of all powerful magic, there is always some cost to the energy needed for such a manifestation. The cost of a traveler's rift comes in three parts. The first part: four years of groundwork must be set upon the earth that will host the exit and entrance to the gate. The earth must be treated with rare salts and difficult to find herbs, to prepare it to maintain the energies involved with supporting a stable traveler's rift. The second part: blood must be paid, for it is the most potent host of magical energies. The third part, and the one that most prevents these gates from being used; for every man who goes through, a fraction of his mass's energy is given to the aether that composes the traveler's rift, and when enough of that energy is stored, some monster from the aether is able to tear free from nothingness and tread upon our world. That is where the Lantern Eye came from. Thankfully those beasts do not dwell naturally in our world. When the battle was done, my men returned through the rift and closed it in their wake. ...All of my men but Silent and myself. I left Silent to gather information on how effective our attack had been, and I carried you away with the intent of seeing that you received some necessary training before reaching this place."
I was lost somewhere between shock and rage at his explanation. Not only did he admit to having waged war against the Knights, and possibly killing the last person in the world I honestly trusted, but he had also used a forbidden magic that brought forth a terrible monstrosity. He seemed not at all troubled for his revelations. "What became of the monster?" I asked him, trying to maintain my calm. I thought, for a moment, to ask if he knew the names of any of the survivors from Fell Rock, but I didn't want him to suspect that I had formed any serious bonds with other Knights.
Weaver shrugged. "Silent and I killed the Lantern Eye before it could kill you. As I said, the cr
eature was a menace to everyone, and I could not allow it to continue its rampage. They are powerful flesh eaters, massive and unendingly hungry. Their eyes burn with yellow fire that slowly turns green as it consumes, and when those eyes shine like twin emeralds, the creature splits into two beasts, spreading like an all-consuming fire. Had we left it alive, it probably would have seen that there were no survivors left at Fell Rock, but who knows what chaos would have followed. Next question?"
"How can you justify killing the Knights of Ethan, knowing that they are just men and women fighting for a cause they believe in?" It was one of the questions that most ate at me whenever I thought of the red-eyed warrior's chosen path. He had chosen to oppose the king of men, but that path forced him to kill his own, the Knights of Ethan, and I didn't understand how he could be so cold about such a terrible act.
"This is a war, Lowin. Noble thoughts do not win wars. Men and women willing to put their lives on the line win wars. When I chose my course, I knew that I would have to fight the Knights of Ethan, but I did it still, and will continue to, so that others do not have to suffer the way we have, the way Reilai and Kyeia have." There was a driving conviction in the way he explained things that was hard to find fault in. He really believed he was doing what was best. I wondered if Kye and Reilai would believe in what he was doing. I didn't know Reilai, but I didn't believe that Kyeia would endorse such a cold blooded pursuit of any goal, no matter how idealistic.
