Knights of the Sacred Flame

It’s probably around an hour since our rescue from near death. Looking around the areas that we passed through, it seems it has seen battle.

I overheard the knights ahead of me talking about how the other squadrons must have passed the area we are at. It seems that there are many of them who attacked and not just the rescue team.

The elves are many in numbers as well though. I highly doubt that they’d easily get wiped out. Arin, Elvina, and Felaris are out there too, probably fighting. I hope they are safe.

I try to probe some answers from the knights that are lagging behind. They seem like the talkative type. Maybe they’ll spill something they shouldn’t when their officers aren’t here to listen to them.

“Hey there. Thanks for saving us. I was honestly thinking that I’d bite the dust earlier.” I interrupted their conversation.

“It’s no problem.” Said the one on the left.

“Hey, what’s with the getup anyway? What house are you in?” Asked the one on the right.

It seems wearing this outfit really makes people think that, huh.

“I’m not affiliated with any houses.”

“Oh, really? Still, it’s terrible they got you during your coming-of-age ceremony. These elves deserves what’s coming to them.”

I guess these clothes have many significances for the humans of this world.

“I’m Naoki, by the way. Naoki Kusunoki.” I introduced myself.

“I’m Orlin Randleman of House Randleman.” The one on the left introduced himself.

He seem to be on the younger side—possibly the same age as me. Proper in his speech and respectful.

“The name’s Billy. Billy Vega. House Vega. Nice to make your acquaintance.” The one on the right introduced himself after.

He seems to be a maverick with how he conducts himself. He’s going to be tricky to probe for information.

I couldn’t tell much of their physical attributes as they’re wearing full plate armor—even their helmets are entirely covered in steel.

They seem to be decent people, granted I just forget their hatred towards the elves. Maybe that could be changed—with enough time, maybe the humans will repair their friendship with the elves.

“Hey. What’s with the captain calling you a king earlier? I’ve been alive for a good 32 years and I’ve only known two kings in my lifetime—King Aldric Blackwood, and his son, King Alduin Blackwood.” Billy inquired.

It seems Blackwood is the kingdom where they come from. I’m going to make a wild guess that there are other human kingdoms out there—very standard for these fantasy worlds.

“I am a king of my own nation located far to the east. I have travelled to the central lands to make friends with other kingdoms.” I answered with my lie from earlier.

“You’re a long way from home then, your majesty.” Orlin said, slightly gasping for air.

“Yes… yes, I am.” I immediately remember the people I’ve left behind. My parents. My boss at work, and Ako. It made me feel down for a bit and I guess it showed.

“Don’t worry. After we leave this forest, you can make your way back to your kingdom.” Orlin followed up.

If only it was that easy.

We continued running until we encountered elven squadrons on our way. It seems that the rescue force for Captain Lipton are elites as they made short work of their enemies.

It could also be because most of the current elven soldiers aren’t even warriors—many of Lipton’s men died during the rescue attempt after all.

Soon, we reached a part of Glimmerholm where it’s mostly smaller buildings, like a residential area of sorts.

We enter a building where there seems to be other humans standing by—a rendezvous point, perhaps?

As I follow closely behind Orlin and Billy, I can feel everybody’s eyes on me, likely due to me being the only one they don’t recognize as their own.

I put my head down and try not to attract attention to myself. The last thing I want is to put myself in danger while within the enemies’ ranks.

Captain Lipton joins other knights standing before a round table while the rest of the squad stands behind him, including me.

The other knights, whom I think are also officers like Captain Lipton, welcomes him back to the fray. I’m guessing they’ll be planning their next move now.

They seem to be bickering amongst one another as they plan what to do next—with Captain Lipton still being his quiet, calm self.

It went on for a while. In the meantime, Orlin, Billy, and I get to talking.

“Who are all those people with Captain Lipton?” I asked curiously.

There were three other men encircling the round table with Captain Lipton. As they wore the same armor and their face covered, there was no way for me to discern who is which.

“Well, let’s see. To Cap Lipton’s left, you have Renee Dixon. In front is Mark Lorraine, and on the right is Carson Summers. They’re all First Lieutenants—that means they answer to Cap Lipton.” Billy answered.

First Lieutenant? I have no idea how all these ranks work.

“What do they do? These lieutenants, I mean?”

“Aren’t you a king? Seems like something you should know. Well anyway, they lead their own platoons. Those three and their platoons are responsible for the havoc you’ve seen on the way here.” Billy says proudly.

“That’s right! And it seems they’ve lost very few men if they’re taking their time with planning. If it had been the other way around, we would be halfway back to Blackwood by now.” Orlin interjected.

It seems the current elven army truly is inexperienced. That means, there’s a high likelihood that Captain Lipton and his men will push to continue the attack on Glimmerholm.

That would be less than ideal, of course. I need to rendezvous with Arin and the others soon. Maybe Arin can stop all this from happening.

How do I find them though? They never said where they’ll be and I don’t know anyone here who knows the area well enough. Maybe Arin sent Felaris to find me already?

My attention gets taken by a figure who entered the building—the figure head straight to where the leaders are, prompting everybody else to reach for their weapon.

Strange, I thought. It seems nobody else noticed the figure until it reached the round table.

I went to ask Orlin and Billy about the figure and they told me that they’ve never seen him before.

Captain Lipton doesn’t seem to be startled though. In fact, he starts talking to it.

“We haven’t decided yet how we should proceed.” Captain Lipton said to the mysterious figure.

The figure, being mysterious and all, whispers his reply to the captain. Everyone watches in anticipation.

“I see. We’ll see it done, as long as you hold your end of the bargain.”

It seems they have come to a decision.

“Ready your weapons, boys! We’re not going home just yet.” Captain Lipton announced to the entire room.

It appears everyone is in accord as cheers flooded the building. Even Orlin and Billy are cheering. The noise echoed throughout the building. This isn’t good. I need to look for Arin and the others now!

The lieutenants went to their respective platoons and shared the plan to them. I tried to get closer to one of the lieutenants to try and eavesdrop.

With the many knights inside this building, trying to listen to one conversation is near impossible. Still, I tried.

I couldn’t hear all the words that was being said save for the words princess and abduct.

Oh, no! Princess Rhiannon isn’t safe. I have to head out and find Arin. I’ll just have to try and either hope that I find them or they found me.

Before I go though, I felt it would only be right to at least say goodbye to my acquaintances, Orlin and Billy. They were kind enough to converse with me after all.

I found them waiting on Captain Lipton—it seems they’re awaiting orders.

“Orlin. Billy.” The both look back at me.

“I have to go now. I thought I should tell you two.”

“Are you sure, Naoki? I mean, you could probably wait for us to finish our mission. After that, we can put in a good word to Captain Lipton for you. I’m sure he’d help you.” Orlin offered.

“C’mon, kid. If the man says he’s going to go, then he’s going to go. Best we can do is see him off. Good luck, kid.” Billy reached his hand out for a handshake.

I reach for his hand and shake it—I do the same for Orlin.

And with that, I went back to the entryway.

Just as I was about to exit the building, the mysterious figure whimpers in surprise and points its finger directly at me, like it recognizes me.

“Why is he here?! What is that man doing here?!” The figure had a creepy and annoying voice—one that has become familiar to me as of late.

It’s Elzara! I’m sure of it!

This pretty much proves that he is working with the knights and that he probably did have a hand in the abduction of the older elven princess.

Elzara rushes towards me, probably intending to keep my mouth shut and possibly even kill me. I rush out the building and as I open the door, a gruesome spectacle befalls me.

The human soldiers guarding outside the building have all been wiped out. I didn’t hear any signs of fighting when I was inside though—and the last person to come in was Elzara. Did he also have a hand in this? Is he some kind of double agent?

My answers are quickly answered as a voice calls out for me in the distance.

“Naoki! Good job in leading us here.” It was Arin.