Chapter 7 - Scuffle

Following a trail of splintered wood and large bovine skeletal remains, the carriage rested a short distance away from a dilapidated cave with an unsteady wooden frame entrance. The group descended from the carriage, and began gathering the equipment they would need for the mission. Tetsuo watched as all the knights strapped pauldrons and fitted metal gauntlets over their leather armor. Veera tied a small gold and silver flag to the arms of each knight. He did the same for Tetsuo while also handing him a large shield.

“For you to hide behind. This part’s our job so just stay safe and try not to get stabbed.”

Tetsuo hoisted the shield onto his left arm, surprised by how light it felt. It reached his brow while still covering his knees, and yet it felt lighter than the lance he had in his other hand. Veera stood in front of the three of them clearing his throat.

“Every knight’s got cuffs?” Veera dangled a pair of metal cuffs in front of him, with each knight doing the same. “Good. you know the deal, grab who we can, aim for the leader, take ‘im home and enjoy some rounds at Pietro’s. Erres vol itura!” The three of them struck their chest loudly, shaking dirt off the leather. Tetsuo did the same, prompting Wilbur to murmur something to him. “Um… I-I meant to say this earlier but… that’s a kn-night's only kind of thing. Just… so you know.”

Veera chuckled before swinging his axe over his shoulder and began walking towards the entrance. The two knights followed, leaving Tetsuo to shake the nerves out of his body and join them.

“Wilbur, Light.”

Through the darkness, Tetsuo could vaguely see Wilbur pull out a small metal rod. He placed his hand over it and the rod began to glow a soft bluish color. He affixed the rod to the outside of his shoulder allowing them to see the area around them. Cast off to the sides of the cave were boxes of twisted discarded metal. Scorch marks streaked across the natural cave walls, smelling freshly of ash. Roscoe reached into the box and silently pulled out a long piece of a dark chalky substance. He held it out for Veera to see before silently putting it back. Veera nodded.

“Seems like we found ‘em. Stay close.” Veera signaled for the three of them to follow behind, as they began to advance deeper through the darkness. They continued to find more traces of life within the cave: sleeping bags, cutlery, and deserted tables containing maps, blueprints and worn tools. Wilbur moved to one of these tables below a small wooden alcove and examined the sheets.

“It looks like they were trying to modify the Ficium they stole… Some of these are for changing what they do, while others seem to be attempts at increasing their output.” Wilbur snatched a few of the sheets, rolled them, and slid them into the satchel on his belt. Tetsuo tried to peer at the sheets, recognizing a crudely drawn image of Earth on a blueprint for a knife.

“Hey, this is a pic-” Before he could finish his sentence, Veera quickly covered Tetsuo’s mouth with his hand. He pointed towards the distance where the faint glow of a flame began to shine from behind the corner. A meek looking man dressed in a weathered tunic carried a torch around the corner as he scanned around the room. The four of them ducked behind the table and watched as he began to approach their location. Veera silently gestured to Roscoe with a clenched fist, prompting him to retrieve a small metal disc from his belt. He carefully moved to the front of the group before slowly winding the disc behind his head. He watched as the man continued right towards them. The man squinted before finally seeing Roscoe's outline, and before he could react, Roscoe threw the disc straight to his temple, knocking him unconscious. Roscoe swiftly moved, extinguishing his torch before cuffing the unconscious man to the table. The knights waited for another minute before continuing.

Towards the back of the cave was a large cavern where a group of bandits seemed to be resting. Tetsuo peered in and could make out about eight individuals. Multiple sleeping bags and containers were strewn haphazardly around the room. A few tables sat in the center where someone was attempting to write something on a sword using the same chalk they had seen earlier.

Wilbur began to rub his neck anxiously while whispering. “This is bad… there’s no way that can be stable.” Tetsuo looked closely, and could see that they were repeating the same symbol across the entire length of the blade. “If they tried to prime it, it could bring the whole cave down…”

“We’re not gonna be able to do this one quietly, so we’ll just have to do it quickly instead.” Veera readied his axe prompting them to do the same. “Tetsuo, stay by the entrance, make sure nun of ‘em have an easy time getting out. Hold ‘em here till we can help you out.” Tetsuo nodded and tightened his grip around his lance. With that, the three knights shouted and charged in.

The bandits scattered, grabbing what weapons they had to challenge the knights. One of the men who had been working to the side began to run at Tetsuo, raising a knife at him. He lunged forward, attempting to pierce his stomach, but Tetsuo stepped back and positioned his shield to block the hit. He wildly pulled the knife back before going for a large horizontal slash. This time, Tetsuo swiped his shield in the direction of the swing, disrupting their balance. Following the momentum of his swipe, Tetsuo extended his lance to sweep it against the man's exposed backside. The man grunted before kneeling in pain. The ground below him softened causing his wrists to sink into the ground, before suddenly hardening again. Tetsuo looked up and saw that Roscoe had his hand on the ground, signaling him a quick thumbs up before leaping towards another bandit. From the corner of his eye Tetsuo glimpsed a small trail of movement from behind a few crates. He carefully side stepped to the spot, ensuring that the other combatants were still focused on each other before examining the crates. Behind them was a small opening, large enough for someone to crawl through. He peered inside and saw a second cavern that someone was quickly scrambling through gathering equipment.

“Someone's in here!” Tetsuo called out to the other knights.

“Don’t engage! Wait for us ki- Hurk!” The bandit Veera was fighting threw his sword at Veera and quickly sprinted towards Tetsuo. Another engaged against Wilbur did the same.

“Tch…” Roscoe pressed his hands against the ground, and formed two stone walls that blocked their path to Tetsuo. He grimaced and signaled for Tetsuo to chase. Tetsuo nodded and tossed his lance through the hole. He attempted to fit his shield through the gap, but had to discard it to crawl through. He prayed he wouldn't need it.