Death Knight Box Set

by Michael Chatfield

  “My name is Su. What is your name?”

  “I’m Anthony, and this is Aila. Our other companion is Tommie,” Anthony said.

  “Thank you for saving our lives.” Su tilted his head to them both, a sign of great respect, placing his life in their hands with complete trust.

  “It is my duty. All people of Dena fall under my protection.” Anthony raised his hand and his sword shot into it before he sheathed it. “I’ll check on those carriages and make sure that none of the cultists escape.”

  Su nodded as Anthony and Aila walked together down a tunnel.

  “Saved by a human—who would have thought,” Gus said, next to Su.

  Su grunted, but his eyes followed their shadows before they turned a corner, disappearing from sight.

  His eyes turned to his people. People were crying and holding one another. The guards were fanned out, watching the entrances. Everyone was still tense, a chaotic mix of emotions.

  “See to Carrie. Once Anthony and Aila return, we’ll move to the carriages,” Su said.

  Gus gave off a low whistle of acknowledgement and headed to carry out his tasks.

  Chapter: Memories

  Su postponed leaving the next day. They spent the night gathering wood, building pyres for those who had passed away.

  There were no long speeches; instead, several people closest to those who had passed away held torches.

  Su stood in the front, next to Carrie’s pyre.

  “To the lost,” Su said, as everyone else responded: “But never forgotten.”

  The torches were lowered, catching on the wood.

  The flames quickly grew. Waves of heat came off the pyres and smoke rose into the dawn sky.

  Some cried in the crowd; others watched with stony expressions as they saw those pyres burning on the side of the stream.

  Aila turned to Anthony. “Those cultists—they said that they were Agents of Chaos.”

  Anthony let out a tired sigh. “They’re nothing more than the minions for the true Agents of Chaos. Their sole purpose is to create infighting among the people of Dena to weaken us before their gates can bridge the gap between our worlds again.”

  “Who are they, though, and how do they know you?”

  “They’re a race from another place that invade our lands, looking to consume the power of Dena. They consumed all of the power of their own home, so they want to destroy ours. They know me because the Guardians were originally just a ragtag group of warriors who upheld a certain code, but with the unification of Dena, we were drafted in to be Guardians, creating an oath and swearing to uphold it to create stability for the people of Dena.

  “Our duty was to fight the chaos destroying our backlines, so that the front could remain strong and united. Though based on the master’s memories, it looks like there were some who were left here, or they had a few hidden gates that they sent a few Agents of Chaos over in. They’ve been building strength. They’re one cell, or group of people, that are part of a vast and complicated network that looks to hide among the population, gaining positions of influence to carry out acts to create instability between people.

  “The Agent of Chaos told them about Guardians, and he also said how they were able to destroy us and remove us even from history so that we will never be reformed...” Anthony’s words trailed off.

  “Something wrong?”

  “Oh, there are a lot of things that are wrong. I feel like there is a memory I have that’s linked to it, but I just can’t seem to bring it into focus. How frustrating.”

  “You’ve made a lot of progress already in recovering your memories, but how were you able to read the master’s?” Aila asked.

  “Just an ability I have—keep the person off-balance and I can draw out a lot of their memories. The surface ones, the ones they’re thinking off right at the moment I do it, are the strongest. It was why I showed my emblem, see if there was anything triggered. Thankfully I was able to get some useful bits.”

  Aila looked to Tommie, who was looking at his feet. “Are you okay?” Aila asked.

  “Am I okay? I was too scared to act. I just stayed with Ramona and her children, looked after them. I was scared stiff, didn’t know what to do, wanted to run or hide. Every noise made me flinch.” Tommie sunk lower.

  “It’s okay to be scared and afraid. You could’ve run, but you stayed there and watched over Ramona and her children. I was terrified, thinking that I could die, but I just did as I was trained to and kept on fighting,” Aila said.

  “But you were trained to fight. You’re an elf—best fighters in the woods—and he’s a knight with familiars and powers.” Tommie built up before deflating. “And I’m just a gnome. I wanted to build the Gnome-inator, thinking that it would give me the confidence I needed to become like you two, to become a hero or a champion. Instead, when a challenge arose, I hid instead of doing anything.”

  “Why did you follow us?” Anthony asked.

  “To challenge myself,” Tommie said.

  “The real reason. You had a comfortable life, you had a job—why did you give that up to follow two basic strangers?” Anthony asked.

  “I...” Tommie’s face moved in different ways, as if trying to somehow communicate thoughts, emotions, and ideas into one cohesive collection of words.

  People started to head back to the carriages as Anthony and Aila looked at Tommie, waiting.

  “I always tell people about the places that I’ve been and things that I’ve seen but the truth is that I have only seen a few things and gone to a few places. I want to see and do more. I have few attachments. I was working with the merchants because I wanted to get parts for my Gnome-inator. When I heard that you were going to the capital of the elves, I was interested by the story that I could tell others. Another reason was I wanted to get the parts to finish off my Gnome-inator. My dad always says that my mother left us, but I know the truth: she was killed in a random troll attack. He wasn’t strong enough to stand up for her and I wanted to be strong enough to stand up to others. I see gnomes and the smaller people always being stepped on, so I wanted to build something that would allow us to be respected, that would allow us to stand up to the powerful people in the world. You’re both strong, so I hoped that I could tag along, going to different places, getting the parts that I need to build my Gnome-inator. Then I can go home, tell people stories about other places, and sell my Gnome-inator design so that other gnomes and smaller races can defend themselves. I’d be rich and live a comfortable life,” Tommie said.

  “All right.” Anthony nodded.

  “All right?” Tommie asked, looking up at them. “But I used you. I saw you as if you were guards, a way for me to go from place to place to build my machine.”

  “Going on an adventure, leaving the place you’re comfortable—it’s not easy. It can also be dangerous. You’re not a bad person and you’ve stuck up for us. You don’t have any malicious intent and it is okay to be scared. I’ve been scared plenty of times. I was the weakest person in my village. Looking to build something to help others is a noble cause. Yes, you’re looking to make money off it, but you need money to live and you can use that to buy more supplies and continue building. Also, there is a gnome mechatronics academy in Ilsal I believe—at least, there used to be. It might be a good place for you to get leads on your project,” Anthony said.

  Tommie looked stunned and looked at Aila.

  “Hey, I always welcome someone else along. Helps keep me sane. I’d have lost it if it was just Anthony and me this long.” Aila shrugged.

  Tommie let out a mix between a cough and a laugh as Anthony’s eyes thinned into lines through his helmet.

  ***

  Su and the loved ones of those who had passed away collected their ashes and they started to hook up the bedar to their carriages and headed down the road toward Skalafell.

  A dark cloud hung over the caravan as they moved.

  The young children, not understanding what had happened and having little con
cept of death, were running around, playing with Anthony, bugging Aila, and stealing Tommie’s gear.

  Tommie spent most of the time chasing them. Due to their similar height, he had to work hard to get the pieces back from them.

  They would sleep early, with guards patrolling vigilantly. Everyone slept in their clothes and most had weapons with them as they ate different meals, as if someone would poison them again.

  Then, with the crack of dawn, they would pack up and move on. The excited spirit that they had left with had disappeared. Every day wore on them, looking at Skalafell as if it were their savior because they were mentally worn down from everything that had happened.

  ***

  “We’ve been pushing hard. If we push harder, then we can arrive early tomorrow morning,” Gus said.

  “Your people need to rest,” Anthony said, coming up beside Su and Gus on Ramona.

  “You’ve all been through a lot. You understand that with one another, but you haven’t had time to mourn, to think about it and process it. Once you get into the city, there will be so much to do that everyone will just push it down and it will only get worse. The best way to heal a wound is to clean it quickly before it has time to fester. Aila was able to find a nice camp not far away. If we break early for tonight, I can hunt us some meat, have a night to remember those who were lost, have guards on duty. Aila, Tommie, and I will take the night shift. Go have a few drinks, let out the pain. We’ll be close enough to Skalafell that no one will try to do anything.” Anthony turned and looked at them.

  Su wanted to argue. He wanted to get his people into the city, if only to get the worry off his mind, but hearing Anthony, he could feel the pain inside. He still didn’t want to face it.

  “If we push on, we’ll be able to get in and rest sooner,” Su said, not willing to face that weakness.

  “Are you so scared and weak that you can’t confront your own pain with the people who suffered with you?” Anthony asked derisively.

  “You!” Su said as Gus’s hand reached for his sword dangerously.

  “And there—what were you going to do? Cut down the person who saved you over some words? How short is your fuse?” Anthony’s voice changed, sounding disappointed as Ramona moved faster.

  Su choked on his words, wanting to yell out and punch Anthony to make him take back his words. But he knew violence wouldn’t make him take back his words; it would only prove that Anthony’s words were right.

  It made all of the fight go out of him. He felt defeated; he felt empty and hollow. He was so tired from driving hard the last few days, he had drained himself so that he didn’t have to deal with the emotions that lay below the surface, threatening to make him crumble.

  “Check the place and report back to me,” Su said, making a decision.

  “You sure?” Gus asked.

  “He’s right. And if they wanted to do anything, he’s powerful enough to have done it already,” Su said.

  “Yeah.” Gus sighed. It was clear that he was tired from having his guard up all of the time. They were stretched thin.

  ***

  “Are you sure that this is the best idea?” Aila asked as they turned in to the area that she had scouted out earlier.

  “I’m sure it’s what they need,” Anthony said.

  He saw a wall. People stood across it, eyes dull as they looked outside.

  Others sat wherever they could, sleeping or eating, dull and numb to reality. There was dried blood on the walls, where others had once stood.

  The defenders’ armor was scuffed and worn. Many wore bandages but they continued fighting.

  Some hid in corners. Their tears fell down, cleaning their dust- and sweat-stained cheeks and cleaning their armor.

  The others looked away, not wanting to see them in pain, not wanting to reveal their own pain that was burning them up from inside.

  Anthony saw it all as he looked over the wall at the vast plains beyond. There was smoke on the horizon. The chaotic war machine was licking their wounds, gaining their strength, and destroying Dena as they went. There were flashes of multicolored lights in the distance. There were floating islands and other creations in the skies as the clouds rained up and down. The laws that governed Dena were turned and mutated, no longer following the same path that they had for generations, altered by the chaos that now walked upon its surface.

  Anthony returned to seeing the carriages as they circled up and the people started to get down, stretching and preparing for the night. They had been riding early until late, so this was one of the few times that they were setting up camp with more than a few hours before it turned dark.

  Su got them to build one large campfire and even broke out drinks for the traders. Gus and some of the others were stopped from drinking; they wanted to have people alert, after all.

  “If they don’t deal with that inner pain, if they push it aside as if it is nothing, then it will tear them apart and they will turn into the Agents of Chaos that the cultists wanted. Lashing out at others in order to try to feel some kind of control over their lives, turning to violence to control.”

  “How do you know this?” Tommie asked.

  “I was like them before,” Anthony said.

  Tommie went back to tending Ramona and the cubs.

  “We’re going to have a look around. Yell if there is anything,” Anthony said, indicating for Aila to join him.

  They walked around the outside of the carriages, looking at the orange-tinted sky as the sun started to go down.

  “How do you feel, Aila?” Anthony asked.

  “Fine.”

  “How do you feel about killing those cultists?”

  “I—well, I’ve killed before: bandits, the people in the mountains, others who tried attacking my home.”

  “And?” Anthony said as the silence dragged.

  “Well, they would have hurt me or others I care about. Either I got rid of them or they would have done worse,” Aila said.

  Anthony nodded. “Fighting for others is easier than fighting for yourself. But how do you feel about it?”

  “I don’t like doing it, but I’ve hardened my heart to it. There are plenty of people who die from colds or diseases all of the time. I didn’t want to kill them, but I had to,” Aila said. “I don’t really know how to describe what I feel. It’s as if there is a void inside me, but also it’s all wound up. I’m scared that something will set me off and I’ll fall in a hole. But then, I’ve gone this far and I haven’t had anything happen to me, so I wonder if that fear is unwarranted. But then I feel it, the void and the tension within playing back and forth. Does it change?”

  “Not really, you just learn how to balance it better and take the time to blow off steam and talk to others when there are signs of trouble. It’s hard for us to know what our issues are. We’re always too close to it, but others can help. It’s not a weakness but a strength to go to others when you think that there might be something wrong,” Anthony assured her.

  “Thank you,” Aila said in a small voice.

  They continued patrolling. They could see through the carriages that people were starting to prepare food; they were talking to one another, small talk, about what they would do when they were in the city, the way that their carriages were riding, what food they were looking forward to, easing the tensions and divisions that had been created over the last few days.

  “You’re not what I expected,” Aila said.

  “Hmm?” Anthony looked over to her.

  “Well, you know you are a death knight with the heart of a lich inside you, but you’re much more than that,” Aila said.

  Anthony unconsciously put his hand over the heart beating inside his chest. “Thank you.” He lowered his hand.

  “I never thought that a skeleton could get themselves into so much trouble but also save so many people and help others.”

  “It doesn’t matter who we are—we can all help one another. My actions might have been big but it is the small ones that are t
he longest lasting,” Anthony said.

  Aila turned her head to the side. “What do you mean?”

  Anthony took some time to respond.

  “It is saying hello, it’s smiling at others, playing with kids for those few minutes, the time you take to help someone out in everyday life, holding the door. Small, incredibly small things. But if you do them again and again, and if you mean them, then other people will see what you’re doing and then, feeling good about it, they will do it when they’re greeted by others.

  “We become better people when we’re looking after one another instead of looking after ourselves.

  “This is a part of our communities that we might lose from time to time. The community is not about trying to look good for one another in big acts. It’s about the small things for your neighbor, the greeting you give one another. It’s not a deep connection, but it is a connection. When you have a bad day and you want to yell at someone, you start to yell, but then you remember that they might be having a bad day, that your taking it out on them might be making them have a bad day. So you take a step back, change your tone and then start again, let them help you instead of being forced to do your bidding. Sympathy is stronger than anger. Aggressiveness can ignite other’s anger, but kindness can stick with them in a way that they might not even realize. You can point immediately to the people who made you angry, but it is only at the end of the day that you can reflect on what made you feel better. It isn’t a currency; it isn’t something that can be bartered or given away. You have to give it or take it, but unlike money, it will come back to you.”

  Aila felt that his words were simple but confusing. They also sparked a lot of internal thoughts as she started to think on her own life, on those times that she had been in the situations he had talked about.

  Anthony didn’t say anything as they walked around the carriages, as people started to get closer around the fire, starting to pull out their food and cook with one another. They were a broken community, but they were still a community, one that had shared the good and the bad, the hard and the easy times.