Knights Apocalyptica

“They swore aloud together—out of sheer fright, I believe—then pretending not to know anything of my existence, turned back to the station. The sun was low; and leaning forward side by side, they seemed to be tugging painfully uphill their two ridiculous shadows of unequal length, that trailed behind them slowly over the tall grass without bending a single blade.

-Joseph Conrad, Heart Of Darkness (2nd Era, 1899)

The black figure took the lead, and the rest of its followers formed a wall, cutting off the line of sight for Colin and Erec from the rest of the party. All Erec could do was raise an eyebrow and sip deep of his cup. It tasted like candy, and the alcohol within burned up and heated him more.

Not that he needed the heat; the four people now looming over him were enough to get the heart pumping and the blood stirring.

He wasn’t sure whether or not he wanted it to devolve into a fight. Part of him wanted to start trading fists; another part knew it would ruin the night. The two wrestled within, the emotions and desires rolling over and entwining in his heart, so let fate decide then how it would end; Erec was content with either. No matter what, though, at least this would be more interesting than drinking and dancing.

The ball was in their court.

“You’re blocking my view. Do you know who I am?” Colin asked with a scoff.

“Colin Nitidus, of the Duchy Nitidus, one of our retainers and a servant to the crown, and thus a servant to me.” Soren’s voice came from the dark costume; as always, it was flat as he said it. Matter of fact. Completely at odds with the fact that a prince would be in a bar in the Thirteen Cavern. Erec did a double-take and checked the man he was with.

Sure enough, the build and power radiating off them was real. These had to be an escort of Royal Guards, only, this time, they were decorated in costumes.

Erec leaned back, taking another deep sip of his.

“It has come to my attention that your troop has undergone quite some training recently. It is a compliment to you to make preparations and to work on your weaknesses,” Soren replied, folding his arms. “I’ve come to deliver a message.”

“You’ve come to irritate me; that much is clear and evidenced, prince. And I can assure you that whatever insight you think my training had led to lacks the true depth and nuance of my advancement. I am a different man standing before you. And I will crush you in the tournament.” Colin’s voice raised.

Erec tried to lean past one of the blocking bodyguards to get a glance at the dance floor; the man he tried to peer past blocked his view and glared down at him.

“Mind moving? I just want to make sure my friends are fine.” Erec asked.

“You will pay attention to the prince, he is where your attention will lay.” The man replied with a booming voice.

Soren ignored Colin and turned to Erec. “My message is thus: you are a concern for this Kingdom in a showcase to those outside of it. It would be a tragedy if you lost your temper in a fight, as you are prone to do, and therefore do serious harm to an outsider. It could damage our potential future relationships. After some thought and discussion, I’ve come to agree with this assessment; several of us have raised such a concern. But your order is refuting it. As things stand, you will be approved for participation in the tournament, and that is a potential tragedy for this Kingdom as a whole; therefore, as a Knight, I order you to withdraw.”

Erec sighed.

“Listen, you’ve clearly an issue with me. This doesn’t go both ways, Prince. Frankly, I don’t care much for what you think. My friends are competing in this tournament; this is a good place to grow and make connections outside of the Kingdom.” Erec said, picking his words carefully.

“I agree. It is a good place for such things, for people who can act with restraint. It is not the place for monsters, which you turn into. We must be aware of the places in which we belong—it is fine to send such a man to face down our foes; he may turn into what he must on that field of battle since it is even, and there are no rules. In matters such as these, monsters must know they cannot participate in the same field as men.” Soren continued, ignoring Colin as the noble tried to interrupt him as he spoke.

“Earlier, you said you wanted to fight me, were curious as to how I stacked up.” Erec was starting to feel the fires flame inside of him. The judgment and the hypocrisy of what he was hearing now, compared to what the Prince said earlier, was starting to get him pissed.

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“That remains true. It just happens that the right battlefield for such a conflict is not in the eyes of an honored and respectable new tradition. Your place as a monster is to face off against other monsters. Surely you understand this? We all have our places in this puzzle.” Soren shook his head.

Colin stood up, his face red as he worked his jaw.

“How dare you say that to your betters? Truly, you still think you are capable of facing off against my friend, let alone me? What have you seen within that little palace of yours, prince? Do you think your achievements amount to anything compared to his? Compared to I? And here you are, ignoring me, who will be the one to thrash you in this tournament and send you running back to the King with your tail tucked between your legs like a pathetic animal. It is beyond time your reckoning comes.” Colin raised a hand; sparks of electricity ran off his digits, sparking into space and vanishing in an instant, like little galaxies forming and then returning to the void.

A glyph didn’t form, but it felt like it could pop into existence at any moment, as if the spark of the boy’s soul was inches away from flashing the linework into space and hurling a spell at Soren. Not that the prince or his men recognized the spell primed and ready to go. They didn’t know about Souls. Nor did they have any insight into how Colin’s functioned in conjunction with his Mysticism.

So, Colin had flown off the handle.

Erec stood up too, and cracked his neck. If he couldn’t defuse this by talking, he had to resort to other tools.

“You want me to withdraw from the tournament? That’s why you chased us down to the 13th Cavern to harass us on a holiday.”

Soren blinked; though his face remained neutral, he did look a little put out by that. “I had hardly thought something like a simple holiday mattered to you.”

“It does. You thought wrong. You label me a monster at every turn, yet here you are, acting hardly civil. Everyone deserves a rest and time with their friends. And this has violated mine. You owe me satisfaction.” Erec pressed in, stepping closer. The royal guards on either side bristled. Not for a second did Erec think he could take them all in a fight—even fully burning his Silver Fire. Those men were picked for their aptitude and high virtues, and they had more training than he could cram into his immediately adventure-filled time.

“I owe you?”

“Yes. You owe me.”

“He owes me!” Colin also cut in.

Erec shot him a glare that shut his friend up.

“You want a fight, Soren? Is that why you keep harassing me? I’m not going to give you what you want. If you want to fight me, then you fight me in the tournament. Protest and whine all you want, but if deep down, you’re looking to test yourself against me, the big bad monster, then it will be there. If you somehow get me tossed from competing, then I won’t be fighting you at all.” Erec stepped back.

The fire inside was raging, upset at his withdrawal from the conflict.

But it was bait. What kind of man was this prince?

Soren stared at him with dead eyes.

“Unreasonable, as I could expect.” He remarked.

“You wanna fight me? You know, the only place where you will get the chance, now. Everywhere else, I’ll simply withdraw. I don’t care enough. I don’t have anything to prove to you.”

“You won’t get the chance to fight him since you’ll face your inevitable defeat at my hands! Spoiled brat!” Colin yelled, his fists balled. “Stop ignoring me!”

Soren turned away from them and gestured to his escort. The four of them left, leaving a shadow in their wake. Colin kept complaining for minutes, but Erec simply let the words wash over him, sitting back down in his seat and taking another deep sip of his drink. Inside, his heart hammered, his blood rebelled. More than anything, he’d wanted to call out Soren then and there, tell him to walk outside and have their little fight in the street.

He wanted to crush the prince. To show his challenger that his words were nothing but hot air.

But then, he knew that would give him the confirmation and satisfaction he sought. Sure, call Erec a monster. Call him a brute or a thug; enough in the nobility did so. That was a weapon of his, a tool to wield as he wished.

Little did the prince know that now, with Robin’s lessons, they weren’t the only tool in his arsenal. Restraint, properly applied, could make the space for as much violence and retribution as one’s heart could desire.

If they met on that tournament field, then the fight would be all that much more satisfying. In front of the entire Kingdom, he’d put the prince in his place.

That is, if Colin didn’t do so first.

He let his friend complain—then the rest of their friends came back, it didn’t take long for Olivia and Garin to get involved and investigate what happened. They got the full story because Colin couldn’t shut up about it.

Garin promised he’d look into whom amongst the nobility was calling for him to be banned from the fighting and why. Erec thanked him but let it filter away.

They got more drinks.

Enide called Erec out to the dance floor for a few songs. He could only refuse for so long before giving in and heading out with her. The flashing lights, the mist, and the night itself went a way to him for getting the prince.

When they returned to his dorm, he’d let most of it go.

Deep down, though, an ember still burned. And it would stay there, simmering and smoking in his pit, more fuel to drive his growth. Soren had done little else but set the stage for more of a fight in the future.

So be it.

The tournament wasn’t much further away.

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