The Wandering Knight: Chapter 2

The town was on fire. Fear crept into Nathaniel's mind, but only for a second. Before he could even realize what he was doing he was rushing to put on his boots and sword. Running down the stairs he almost tripped and fell down them but he made it down. With all the ruckus he made his parents went to go check on him.

"What's wrong Nathaniel?" Asked his father rubbing his eyes.

"The town is on fire. I have to go help, you both stay here we should be far enough away" He responded

"Why are you bringing your sword?" His mother asked her voice shaking

"Incase of the worst" He said as he rushed out into the night.

Running down the road to town was the fastest way to get there from the farm but still would take a while. Waking Phillip and getting him ready would take to long. He ran like he had never run before. All the stamina training that Sir Silas had put him through would be useful now.

"Please just be a fire, just a fire" He muttered to himself

But as he approached the town he saw what he feared. Brigands setting the town alight and capturing those who rushed out of their burning homes. He could see a couple of them robbing the butcher and dragging the owner out and away. Stealing and capturing that's what they did. Nathaniel had heard rumor that there was a group roaming nearby but never thought they would attack such a small town with just a few farms and tradesmen. This didn't even seem like a possibility to Nathaniel.

Getting closer to the town Nathaniel needed to make a decision. Would he meet these brigands head on or would he try to be more tactful with his approach. Nathaniel had never been one for trying to sneak around. Drawing his sword without slowing down at all he rushed headlong into the town. Running straight at the ones he saw robbing the town butcher, Mr. Maximillian.

With all the commotion of burning buildings Nathaniel was on them before either of them could respond. As thy drew their weapons he hit their heads with the pommel of his sword. Knocking them out. Even with anger flowing through his veins Nathaniel knew that he didn't want to take any life he could avoid taking.

"Do you know if these brigands have a leader somewhere?" Nathaniel said, helping the butcher to his feet.

"I do not but I did hear more of a commotion coming from the town chapel" Said Mr. Maximillian.

"Thank you, I will be heading there, help anyone you can but stay safe Mr. Maximillian"

"Aight lad, thank you"

And Nathaniel continued onwards into the fray. As soon as he rounded the corner to go towards the town chapel he saw another brigand. This time he didn't have the element of surprise. This would have to be a fight.

The hooded man drew his sword. It was old looking, a bit rusted at the crossguard but still looked like it was in fine condition and still threatening. Nathaniel put his sword in front of him assuming the stance that he had practiced for year and years.

"Dats a pretteh looking sword you got dere, can't wait fer it to be mine."

"Over my dead body"

"Dats da plan kid"

And like that the man rushed towards Nathaniel. A strong strike above came from the man. Stronger than the ones that he was used to training with Sir Silas. The strike was easily parried and a counter attack was made to the side of the man. This caught the man off guard. Clearly he wasn't expecting anyone to fight back. But he managed to get his sword in the way to guard that strike. But he was not ready for the many strikes after pounding on all sides not letting up. Nathaniel was unrelenting strike after strike not letting the man have a chance to react. After about 20 different strikes Nathaniel found his opening and took it. Driving his sword into the man's leg. the man cried out as he dropped his sword. And quickly again Nathaniel knocked the man out with the pommel of his sword. Quickly he took the man's cloak and rapped his leg up to stop the bleeding.

As Nathaniel finished two more men appeared coming from the direction of the center of town.

"Ahhhhh dats whys we heard some sword fightin" One of the men said

"Some farm boy wanted teh play hero" The other responded.

"I don't want to fight you, I just want you to leave" Said Nathaniel

"Dats to bad cause we want teh fight you" Said the first man drawing his sword.

"Damn shame you coulda been useful to capture" Said the second drawing his sword as well.

This was a problem Nathaniel had only ever trained with Sir Silas he had never tried fighting against two opponents at once. Thinking back he could only remember one time where Sir Silas had even spoke about fighting multiple people at once

"You have two options kid. Either finish one off really quickly or hunker down and keep them on one side of you"

With this realization Nathaniel went on the offensive. Rushing at the smaller of the two men he started his attack. This was not expected by either of the men, the one being attacked immediately going on the defensive. Only trying to stop the flurry of blows from this "farm boy". Unfortunately for Nathaniel this wasn't fast enough. The flurry of blows only caught one of them off guard and the second man moved to a position where he could fight strike from behind.

Sensing the mistake that he had fallen victim to Nathaniel decided to immediately fall on the back foot. Backing away from the man he was attacking Nathaniel positioned himself with both of his attackers in front of him.

"Ahh farm boy's got a head on his shoulders, not bad"

"Too bad we'll ave ta separate them"

No response came from Nathaniel. He was too focused on the fight. This fight would test how skilled he really was with the sword. He had learned so many fighting techniques but never what to do if anyone fought dirty. And this was a prime example of fighting dirty.

The men were positioned themselves one to each side. Then came the attacks, one from each side. The men in sync swung high and low. With a deft dodge and parry low Nathaniel managed to avoid this onslaught. All that he wanted to find was a weak part in each of their attacks. Another set of attacks this time followed by more of a barrage. Each quickly blocked or dodged, some coming closer than he wanted until he finally found it. The man on the left always had a break in his guard after his second strike in a flurry.

Nathaniel waited for his moment. Then struck. This strike would have to be an almost lethal one it was all that he could find. One quick parry and strike forward was enough to the trick. He knocked the wind out of him.

"FUU-" The man managed to get out while gasping for air.

"YOU SON OF A-" the other man managed to get out before Nathaniel capitalized on his surprise and knocked him out with the pommel of his blade.

One quick move got the man gasping for air down for the count, unconscious as well.

Nathaniel quickly came to the realization that he had spent too much time here. He needed to continue onward. As he reached the town chapel he saw no one. "Am I too late" he thought to himself. He could hear yelling coming from the other side of town, so he made his way that way.

Still running he could hear the yells getting louder. Until eventually he reached the edge of town. There he could see a large group for hooded figures holding torches carting off whatever they could. People tied up and dragged behind, old antiques held onto for generations. It was all taken.

Nathaniel's first thought was to rush toward them but even his reckless behavior wouldn't let him. Running in meant certain death, there were too many of them. Now the most important thing was saving what he could in the town. Sheathing his sword he turned and got to work trying to find anyone he could help.

The next morning came. The fire had been put out, mostly by a small group of townspeople including Nathaniel's parents and himself. The entire main area of the town had burned. All the shops and houses gone. The only places that seemed to not get hit much were the farm houses on the outskirts of town such as his own home. Most of the population of the town was ok but many people died or were taken away by the band of brigands for who knows what. The men Nathaniel had knocked out had been tied up and were being questioned by the town aldermen as others assessed the damage.

"Are you alright Nathaniel?" Asked his mother.

"I'm fine mom, I am ok. I just wish I could have helped more people. They are still out there and might come back again just to get the rest of us. We can't let that happen" He responded

"It's ok Nathaniel. You saved many people last night, and captured multiple of them without getting hurt, what you did was heroic"

"But if I were Sir Silas no one would ha- SIR SILAS"

With that Nathaniel bolted from his mother's side not even giving her an explanation. He ran as fast as his tired body could carry him. Reaching the hill that the old man's house stood on in what seemed to be almost record time he began the ascent. But as he crested the hill he saw what he feared. The hut in ashes.