Chapter 24 - Desperation

Tetsuo swung one last time into the assailant he had pressed against the ground, who grunted, before the room fell silent. He staggered reaching around him for another body to grab, to no avail. He felt filthy, as he attempted to wipe away the blood that had trickled down his arms. The door behind him burst open, the two knights stumbling into the room. The light from the doorway lit the room dimly, revealing the rest of the assailants laying unconscious around the ground. Their robes were tattered and filthy with dirt and blood, and their knives lay strewn across the floor. Tetsuo saw the two of them looking around in awe at the scene.

“Whew! You really did a number on them.” The blonde knight whistled as she observed the room.

The dark haired knight strode to Tetsuo and held his arm, examining it. “Here, let me heal you.”

The knight began using Ars on Tetsuo’s skin, sealing the cuts. Dazed, a rage began to build up within Tetsuo. He pulled his arm away from the knight and stumbled backwards. The knights both seemed taken aback by his behavior.

“What happened to cover me?! What were you two doing?!” Tetsuo exclaimed.

The blonde knight replied non-chalantly. “We tried to follow you in but the door got stuck. We couldn’t open it.”

“It’s a plain wooden door! What do you mean it got stuck?! Just break it down!!!”

“We tried,” responded the dark haired knight shrugging. “Whatever we threw at it didn’t work.”

Their lax attitudes towards his near death experience aggravated Tetsuo more than the ambush itself. They hardly seemed to care about what had taken place, simply observing and picking up knives from the floor. Tetsuo sat dismayed as the two of them continued their conversation around the assailants, laughing and teasing as if this was normal to them.

“HEY!” Tetsuo yelled at both of them. He stumbled into a standing position and raised his fists. “You’re both acting pretty calm… You sure you weren’t helping them plan this?”

The blonde knight looked at him with a sardonic grin. “You crazy? Why would we help a bunch of oldies in a basement instead of one of our own.”

“You really think of an Earthen as one of your own?”

The blonde knight sighed in an exasperated way. “Here we go…”

The dark haired knight quickly interjected. “Look I get it’s your first near death experience, but that’s life as a knight. Ain’t all just glory or helping the elder–”

“You two working with Remes?” Tetsuo demanded, anticipating their reaction.

“Huh? The mining town? Why would we?” The two knights laughed to themselves at the question. “Yeah, killing you was all part of our plan to make more rocks.”

Silently, Tetsuo turned and began climbing the staircase out.

“Wait hold up, let me heal you. I’m gonna get written up if I don’t.”

Tetsuo continued on his way out, ignoring the dark haired knight's plea. He gave the knights a choice finger, as he pondered for what reason this ambush for him would have been necessary. Tetsuo left them in the room with the rest of his assailants, though they didn’t seem to care all that much. From behind he could hear the blonde knight mutter under her breath.

“This is why we never should have allowed them to be a part of our knights.”

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While the mission had been a success, it seemed like the results were less than desired. Tetsuo stood in front of the head administration for the Knights of Alvania, having received an order to attend a meeting to further discuss what had happened during the mission. In his mind, he had no doubt those two knights had reported him for his behavior. He stood in front of the massive building and sighed. The large oak doors were adorned with the carvings of Chimrea dancing with each other. The rest of the building was made of large granite bricks formed in chiseled rectangular arches and patterns.

The door creeped open, as Eleanor exited the building, greeting Tetsuo. “Yo. Come with me.”

“Um, hey, I can’t. I got summoned here by the head.”

“I already talked to them about it. I’m handling it now. So come with me.”

“What about the mission?”

“Tetsuo, literally nobody cares. Hurry up.”

Confused, Tetsuo followed Eleanor over to the main road. A small carriage waited at the side of the road. A knight sat in the coach, silently waiting for the both of them. Eleanor gestured for Tetsuo to get on, which he obliged. She boarded after him, sitting next to where he sat. The knight whipped the reins, as a singular Vacka began to move forwards.

They rode in an uncharacteristic silence. Tetsuo wanted to ask her where they were going but her expression carried a stern dissonance that deterred him. As they travelled through the main street away from the center, a knight called out to the both of them from the road.

“Hey! The great Eleanor’s dating a person instead of a weapon!”

Tetsuo was about to correct him but Eleanor interrupted. “Not a date. Official business. Say anything else and I’ll have you arrested for obstruction of justice.” The knight quickly turned and scurried off in a different direction. Eleanor leaned back into her seat and closed her eyes. Tetsuo was surprised she shut it down faster than he did.

“Thanks.”

She responded quietly with her eyes closed. “What are friends for…”

The carriage continued until it reached the edge of the city. The driver waved to a soldier standing at the gate, who opened the path for him. The carriage continued travelling outside of the city into the forest path. Tetsuo watched as the city slowly became a part of the horizon.

“Where are we going exactly?”

Eleanor didn’t respond. Instead she changed the topic.

“You know, now that I’m thinking of it, I don’t think I ever apologized for what happened that time at the bar.” Eleanor softly smiled to herself. “I got carried away and forgot I’m way too much of a lightweight for drinking. Couldn’t have been a good first impression for you.” Eleanor quickly turned to Tetsuo. “Don’t get me wrong, I don’t go around hitting on the first guy I see though. I’m not like that.” Tetsuo wasn’t sure but he could have sworn he heard the knight driving the carriage chuckle. She sighed and leaned back into her seat. “Anyways what I was trying to say is, I’m sorry.”

“It’s cool…” While he appreciated the apology, he didn’t know why she was saying all that now, and not during any of their other workshop sessions.

She sat up and looked out ahead of the road. “We’re getting close.” Tetsuo looked out ahead and could see the forest begin to taper off, replaced by dry rough plains. The ground faded from green grass to a dusty white color, soil turning to yellow gravel. Eleanor began to turn away, looking out to the sides. Tetsuo did the same, seeing small divots in the ground becoming long expansive trenches. Sand settled within the them, and white dust covered the contents within, but the outline of the metal stakes rising in from it were unmistakable.